Shattered Centered: Scenes Off The Cutting Room Floor
by RubyWings91
Summary: This is just a set of deleted scenes to my BNMHA story, Shattered Centers. A link to the actual story is provided at the beginning of this if you haven't read the main story and are interested.
1. Introduction

**Scenes Off The Cutting Room Floor Introduction**

**This is a piece where I will post several sets deleted scenes from my work, Shattered Centers, as I go. Since I have already promised that I will post the first four sets in rapid succession, I will do so but make no such commitments for the rate that I produce future ones. **

**Here is a Link to Shattered Centers if you have not read it and are interested:** s/13142847/1/Shattered-Centers

**Although I have these scenes posted by chapter sets, they are a generalization for where they fall in comparison to the main story's plot. When I wrote many of them, the planned story structure was very different.**

**Some of them are shorter than others. Some are disjointed. These scenes are also a little raw, since I decided to cut them before the final product. As a result, details may be vague and characters may have slight OOC moments. There are others that I won't post at all here because they are either too similar to material in main chapters or may relate too much to future chapters. I hope you enjoy these.**

**You may pick up on slight foreshadowing of topics I'm hoping to touch upon at some point in the future in some of these scenes, although the form of their expression will probably change from how they appear here, if they come up at all later.**

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If you are a reader who has never read my Boku No My Hero Academa Fan Fiction: Shattered Centers, feel free to read this but be aware you may find yourself lost while looking over this material out of context and there will be spoilers here if you want to read the main story. If you enjoy it anyway, that's awesome. Feel free to read my main story if you want to see more.

For those of you who are familiar with Shattered Centers, this Chapter simply serves as a description of what this piece is and why I am doing it. I am posting it with my first two sets of deleted scenes so if you aren't interested in reading this part, feel free to move on. I promise I get it and won't be upset. If you are one of these individuals who haven't seen my preview on Shattered Centers, I would recommend the next 'chapter' but if you have, you will find new material in the following one.

If your still here, welcome and thanks for sticking around and reading.

I have been writing stories on Fan Fiction sites for some time now. One major thing that happens behind the scenes for me is that I write a lot of material that does not make it to the final cut. I will not lie, this has probably been one of the biggest things that have caused me to burn out and abandon my stories.

This almost happened with Shattered Centers in the middle of 2019, with a scene I will mention in the chapter 4-7 set that was replaced by Izuku's break down in the finalized story. I go into more detail about that scene there. Even as I started the new scene that would eventually become the one I posted, I was upset because I'd worked so hard on the original scene and I thought, 'now no one was going to get to see it.'

Then I thought of posting my Deleted Scenes for everyone to see. Originally, I planned to post it in sections with my main story. Then some of my readers suggested I separate it. Thank you Jacisax and Jane.

So, now I can share my deleted material with you, rather than either letting it just waste away in my Shattered Centers Folder or deleting it. It makes all that extra time and effort worth it.

I hope that you enjoy this. Thank you so much for your support.


	2. Deleted Scenes Chapters 1-3

**Scenes off the Cutting Room Floor: Chapters 1-3**

_**This one takes place when Aizawa is approaching Izuku and Bakugou at the end of the fight. It got cut when I decided to look at Bakugou's POV at the end of the fight. It ends at the start of an earlier version of Aizawa's talk with Midoriya and Bakugou.**_

"Sorry, Aizawa Sensei." Izuku said, as he stood up and brushed his pants off.

He should be scared; their teacher had caught them fighting. They'd even ignored his orders to stop once he'd used his Quirk on them.

But, really, he felt absolutely calm.

Izuku glanced back down at Kacchan. He'd just pulled his knees up and was resting his forehead against them. He heard a small sniffle and realized that the boy had finally reached the stage of having a regular breakdown.

After having to go beyond the 'anger' stage for the first time in who knew how many years.

Izuku walked up to Aizawa, who had his arms crossed as he quietly stared them down. "I'm sorry, but not for breaking curfew or this fight with Kacchan. He needed to talk to someone since Kamino Ward and no one else could…" He trailed off, worried about how any ending would sound; _No one else could understand…?_ _Could take his punches?_ Neither sounded like good things to say. So instead, he continued by stating, "We both knew what we were doing and that we would get in trouble for it, but we needed to do this. What I am sorry about, is that that it meant we had to interrupt your evening."

Shota sighed, as he tried to figure out where to start. A breakdown, the exposure of a toxic relationship, and the comments about Midoriya's 'new power.' He studied the two figures before him.

Midoriya had positioned himself protectively in front of Bakugou to play distraction. For someone who cried so much, Bakugou was right about how hard the other teen could be to read. Shota doubted that all was well with the kid. He wanted to talk to Midoriya and he would. But looking between the two boys, it was clear that he could wait for a few more minutes.

Bakugou, on the other hand, was a crying wreck. Making up for Midoriya's own dry eyes, doing a poor job at hiding it, as he tucked his face from view where he was on the ground. That role reversal spoke of how serious the situation was like nothing else. The blonde boy was breaking down from not just recent events, but years of bottled up emotion. Depending on how this issue was addressed, the next few minutes could make or break him.

Shota looked back at Midoriya and said, "I'll talk to you in a moment."

He made to step around the boy.

"Aizawa Sensei," the kid said as he sidestepped to block his path again, trembling as he stood there.

Shota looked at him, Quirk active.

Midoriya flinched but stood his ground, "I know a lot of what you heard, but he's gotten better and he can't handle any more right now."

And at that moment, Shota wondered just how he could've mistaken this for a rivalry, rather than an abuser and his victim. And said victim was still willing to go to the lion's den to rescue the boy behind him. _Had done so_. If he'd known, he would never had given the two an assignment together; certainly not an exam. He was lucky that forcing them to work together had ended with them working together, because it would've been just as likely to increase the animosity between them and made the mess between them much worse.

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_**I had multiple ideas in mind for how I wanted the confrontation with All Might to go down. Originally, I hadn't even thought about Aizawa talking to Midoriya alone first. In this version, he doesn't press on when Midoriya said he couldn't talk about his quirk because it wasn't just his secret, except to find out that All Might was the other person he was keeping it for. He sent Midoriya back to his room, just like he had Bakugou. All Might would've arrived shortly after the talk between Aizawa, Midoriya and Bakugou. No message was sent to All Might, so he had no idea what was coming.**_

"Sorry, I must have dozed off."

"That's fine." Tsukauchi I would've let you sleep longer, but we're here."

Toshinori looked out the window to see they had parked in front of 1-A's Dorm. "Oh."

Then he saw the doors swing open and out stepped Aizawa, in casual clothes, hair in a bun from which a few strands hung loose his arms crossed, and a scowl on his face.

He immediately started down the walkway toward the vehicle.

"That looks problematic," Tsukauchi stated, "you want me to come with you?"

Toshinori shook his head. "No, I've got this. It's probably just a school matter anyway."

"Take care."

"Thanks. Goodnight." He took a deep breath, before opening the car door and stepping out to face the younger hero.

As he walked up the path, the car left.

"Good evening Aizawa. What brings you out here?"

"I had to break up a fight between Midoriya and Bakugou, tonight."

Toshinori had a bad feeling. "Oh, nothing too serious, I hope."

"They'll be under house arrest for a few days, but that's not why I've been waiting for you. They brought up Midoriya's Quirk." Aizawa's back was ramrod straight as he glared at Toshinori.

Toshinori had to bite back a curse.

"After Midoriya admitted that it started immediately before the entrance exam, it brought up some questions. Especially, considering that, without ever using it, he knew how to apply it in order to take down the Zero Pointer. I cut him off before he could come up with some half-baked lie, to cover how he'd known it would work. Instead, he told me it wasn't just his secret but yours, too."

Toshinori felt his shoulders slump. He looked at Aizawa and thought about everything he'd been through defending Class 1-A and decided that, if there was anyone he could trust with the secret of One for All, it was probably him.

He took a deep breath, "This might take a little while."

"Is it something we should talk about here, or do we need the soundproofing of the Teacher's Lounge?"

With the question, Toshinori was suddenly hyperaware of the fact that there was a mole somewhere on campus.

"The Lounge."

Aizawa nodded and pulled out a set of keys from his pocket. The two men spent ten minutes walking to their destination in silence.

As they entered, Aizawa laid himself out on the couch as All Might sat in the comforter closest to his feet.

"So, what's this big secret that has Midoriya so scared to talk about?"

Toshinori took a deep breath, and began.

He told Aizawa about One for All; how it had allowed him to become the Number One Hero and the Symbol of Peace. How the power was passed from one generation to the next to fight against the greatest evil. About the injuries he sustained, and the resulting limitations on that power. And, finally, how he chose his successor.

The whole time, Aizawa was silent, the only sign of his thoughts in the tightening of his jaw.

It was only, when he finished that the man looked him in the eye.

And he saw burning anger.

All Might felt a twinge of fear run up his spine as Aizawa's eyes turned red and his hair, the strands that weren't wrapped up stood on end. He might not have a Quirk to deactivate anymore, but it was still terrifying.

"So, let me get this right: You gave Midoriya, a heroically driven Quirkless boy, a debilitatingly powerful Quirk that you knew was only going to get worse and, as an added bonus, made the kid a target for the two centuries old monster that wrecked Kamino Ward. Then, you set him loose in the exam, knowing he'd shatter himself the first time he used it and then, just let him continue stumbling along, breaking his bones left and right in his attempts to live up to your expectations."

Toshinori looked down at his hands, rather than look Aizawa in the eye.

"It does sound pretty terrible when you say it that way," he admitted, "I really did mess this up, pretty badly."

Aizawa rubbed his eyes. "I'd say that's putting it mildly."

_**This gets into an earlier rendition of the conversation Aizawa and All Might have Chapters 8-10.**_

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_**When I first decided to write Izuku and Aizawa having a conversation, I was playing around with the transition from the Training Ground to the Teachers' Lounge and one version involved a walk up to the teachers' lounge. I couldn't get the scene to sync with the others in a way that would flow right, so I cut it.**_

Izuku watched as Kacchan disappeared around the corner. He looked up at Aizawa Sensei who had his phone out. Probably sending a message to All Might, to tell him what happened or have another teacher to watch the Dorm, while they were away.

"Come on, we might as well go on up."

They walked out of Testing Ground Beta, and across the school courtyard in silence, before Izuku asked, "Were you actually asleep?"

He knew actual sleep was hard for his teacher to come by. If he'd interrupted it, he'd feel terrible.

"No, I'm still not used to sleeping at night. At this hour, I'm usually out patrolling."

Izuku was suddenly hit by the realization that the Dorm system didn't just uproot the students, but the staff as well. When before, their days would end with their teaching responsibilities, has now extended to all hours of the day.

They were required to stay on campus to keep an eye on their students. Not going home or doing their normal hero duties when the day ended, but instead, sticking around to guarantee their safety. How many people could they have saved, if they didn't have to spend the time watching them?

And here Kacchan and he were, getting into a fight and causing issues for his sensei.

And now, he'd dragged both Kacchan and Aizawa into his problems.

"You really need to do something about your mumbling habit, Midoriya. It's not going to do you any favors. It gives away your location and exposes your thoughts at the same time." The sound of Aizawa's voice caused Izuku to jump. He hadn't realized how quiet his teacher had been until he spoke.

Izuku felt his cheeks burn, embarrassed both that he had been thinking aloud and his reaction when Aizawa spoke.

He focused on his feet as they continued onward.

"I'm sorry…" Izuku said. Sorry for disturbing his evening. For being part of the reason he was stuck here. For dragging him into this mess.

"Of all the people who should be apologizing for tonight, you're one of the last. You did what you had to in order to deescalate the situation. The only real mistake you made was whenever you slipped up with keeping your secret from Bakugou."

"...Then why…?"

"Because breaking the rules has consequences, no matter how 'right' it is. You of all people need to know that. Here, I can be lenient based on how good the reason behind your actions were. Out there, you won't get that luxury. And as a government employee, your drive to do what you think is right over what the rules dictate is going to be one of the biggest threats to your hero career. Especially before you establish yourself in the hero community. I saw you in the removed footage of Stain's capture. It was me that you left Kota with and gave information about targeted students after your fight with Muscular. The information that led me to grant permission for the first years to engage the Villains. I've already made it clear that I know that you were part of the group that rescued Bakugou. It's only been half a year, Midoriya, and you've already broken the law at least three times to save others. With that drive, you have the potential to be a great hero. I don't want to find you stripped of your license, because it'll mean you're resorting to Vigilantism, seeing as we both know that you won't stop trying to save people. And I sure don't want to have to chase you down and subdue you."

Izuku bit back the defense. He hadn't actually broken the law when rescuing Bakugou, but even that was by the thinnest of margins. It was only through technicalities, and loop holes.

"Still, that's not my biggest concern for tonight. We should have another two and a half years to work with you on that issue."

Izuku looked up to find that they had reached the Teacher's Lounge.

Aizawa pulled out a key and unlocked the door, letting Izuku in before he followed.


	3. Deleted Scenes Chapters 4-7

**Scenes Off the Cutting Room Floor, Chapters 4-7**

**The following are scenes cut from earlier versions of Izuku's and Aizawa's conversation. Either I couldn't make them fit or I decided to cut them for the reason that it was already getting really long and I felt uncomfortable with extending it further.**

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_**When planning Izuku and Aizawa's conversation, I was originally going to have Aizawa find out just how much of a role Izuku played in taking down Stain while Izuku was describing his experience with OFA. I didn't like the frustrated tone Aizawa took here, since Midoriya was already having a rough evening. I also figured that this was also something Aizawa could have figured out as an underground hero.**_

"And before I realized that I had to use it across my whole body to balance it, I figured that I could focus it into one body part and still use the rest of it."

Aizawa visibly paled, asking, "Like using your finger to force your power onto a ball."

"Yeah! That's where I thought of it, actually. I couldn't get kicked out of the hero course, I-…"

"You were a child with a newly activated Quirk, who had no idea how to use it. You should've been held back from the Hero Course until you figured it out."

"But, I did figure it out."

"At the cost of several broken and rebroken bones, as well as tendons and joints that were damaged to the point of nearly crippling you. A cost that might've been avoided if you weren't forced into my class before you were ready. A year to get used to your Quirk before being eased into the Hero Course would've been much better for everyone. Better than being forced to misuse your Quirk to meet demands you weren't ready for."

"Are you going to put me out of the Hero Course?" Izuku asked, scared.

"No. You've already gotten through the worst of the damage and learned to manage your Quirk enough that we should be able to avoid any more damage than has already been done. Besides, between the fact that there's a target on your back and the current position you hold in the class, I don't think it would be a good idea, anyway. Still, I'm going to be seriously modifying your training regimen and placing new rules and limits based on your experience level." He frowned and asked, "So, just how much of your Quirk's power are you using?"

"When I practice Full Cowl, I'm at five percent. Tonight, with Kacchan, I reached eight percent for the first time, without hurting myself. I hurt myself last time I tried, when Todoroki, Iida and I stopped St…" Izuku snapped his jaws shut.

Too late, Aizawa had already put the pieces together. He sighed and asked, "How much did Endeavor actually do?"

"Looked on, while Stain saved me from being carried off by a winged Nomu."

"Damn it, Midoriya."

"He was going to kill Iida! And Native! He still would have if Todoroki wasn't close by when I texted the class! The Chief of Police covered it up to protect our reputations!"

"I really should've known."

_**This is another earlier version of Izuku's and Aizawa's conversation where I look at it from Aizawa's POV. Often switching perspectives led to me finding different paths that conversations could take and this one just got cut out because I'd been hung up on it forever and the next version, from Izuku's perspective, helped me escape my writers block. I know that a lot of readers have enjoyed seeing the different view points I use when I write.**_

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_**There are parts here that I'm upset I couldn't figure out how to get into later versions of the conversation and don't know if/when I'll get to them later. There were also parts that I realized were wrong. For instance, after manga chapters that came along while I wrote this, I realized that the implication I make that Izuku was well read on different Quirk related philosophies was wrong (I was so disappointed that he didn't recognize the Liberation Army at all. Whether he agreed with Destro's views or not, I would think that they would be relevant to him both as an obsessed Quirk analyst and growing up as a quirkless child, in ways that might have left him with mixed feelings. He might have even been disturbed at first at seeing Hawks's 'support' of their ideas). I guess I could use that as an example of imbalance in Izuku's quirk knowledge resulting from having to teach himself alone rather than having someone to guide him.**_

_**There are definitely sections and concepts that you'll recognize in relation to the complete conversation throughout this scene.**_

_**This was also before I thought of Izuku's meltdown scene, although it was Izuku's state at the beginning of this version that led me to come up with the idea for it. It was actually when I swapped to Izuku's perspective and reached the counterpart to the points where I mention Izuku's watery eyes but saying that he's fine that the scene immediately rose from. And the moment I wrote it out, it just felt right. But it also no longer fit seamlessly with the scene below once I'd written it. The flow of their conversation had changed too much.**_

Midoriya sat nervously on the couch. The other staff knew to leave it for Shota when he was in the Lounge so he could sprawl out on it, but he wasn't about to make the kid get off.

For a moment, Shota considered sitting in an adjacent chair. However, upon seeing that the problem child seemed to barely be able to hold himself together, Shota decided to sit next to the boy. "We're going to be a while. And you're going to tell me about your Quirk. But first, there's something else you need to understand."

Izuku looked up, fearful and watery-eyed. It was hard to imagine that this was the same boy who'd grinned defiantly at him as he curled his broken finger that first day, after defying the ultimatum Shota had given him and shattering the belief that he had zero potential.

Now, he looked small and frail.

Shota frowned, as he took a sip from his cup. "After tonight, what you deserve is to have a discussion much like the one I had with Bakugou, about how this fight and everything leading up to it affected you. Instead, we're going to be having a completely different conversation, but I don't want you to think that this is over."

"It's okay, Aizawa Sensei," Izuku stated, putting on his friendliest smile. "I'm fine."

Shota looked at the boy smiling up at him.

The edges of the scars poking out at the neckline of his shirt and crooked fingers on his right-hand stood out, unable to close completely. And he knew from times when Midoriya either tore his clothes to ribbons or was engaging in activities, like swimming, that he had other, older scars.

Up until now, he hadn't been too concerned. An unfortunate reality of having a society full of people with Quirks but no means of training most of them was that people got hurt and unintentionally injured the people around them all of the time.

Yes, Midoriya had more than average, it was true. Along with a disturbingly high tolerance for pain.

Furthermore, he had issues well beyond the physical injuries. Constant fearfulness, antisocial behavior, self-worth issues, flinching away from unexpected touches and sounds.

Still, Midoriya had been improving in the short time he'd been at the school, both through his own efforts and the support of his classmates. He was reducing how often he'd hurt himself and gained more self-confidence.

With issues like his more immediate injuries, protecting him and his classmates from villain attacks, and adjusting to the shifting school and social environment, he'd let it fall to the way side. It seemed that Midoriya was working through his issues naturally enough for now.

At the moment, it just felt like making excuses not to step in and actually deal with the Problem Child's troubles.

So, this time, he wasn't going to let the issue slide. "No, you aren't. And there's nothing wrong with that. After everything you've been through, I'd be concerned if you were 'fine'."

Midoriya's smile had transformed into a thoughtful frown, as he looked down at the table in front of them. "Well, I'm the best I've ever been. My time at UA has been like a dream compared to before."

"You can't mean that," Shota stated.

In these last few months, he had already had to fight for his life multiple times, been exposed to some of the worst villains in Japan and had been grievously injured too many times to easily count. That he could honestly sit there and say these were the happiest times of his life was _horrifying_.

Izuku looked down at his hands, "If you walked into my elementary and middle school, you'd hardly believe that the Quirk Regulation Laws exist. They were good places to get an idea of what the world described in Destro's Book would really look like. Needless to say, anyone born without a Quirk, like me, would be left behind. My new Quirk is hardly the first to leave me with scars. UA is the first school where I've actually experienced Quirk regulation, as it's supposed to be."

Shota frowned at the statement.

Funny enough, it didn't surprise him to hear that the boy had been reading the works of Liberation Movement. He probably analyzed a wide range of philosophies.

Because of his conversation with Midoriya and Bakugou, he already expected Midoriya's admission of being Quirkless. Still, it was jarring to think of the boy before him as such. As defenseless in a place where Quirks ran rampant. Except it explained his fearful behaviors and high pain threshold with an easily visualized, if sickening picture. It also explained why Bakugou was so experienced with his Quirk, since they had gone to the same schools. "And what were the teachers doing while this was happening?"

"They were in on it." Izuku stated, glancing back toward Shota and the man caught a glimpse of disillusionment, acceptance and exhaustion. No one that young should be able to give him a look he was used to seeing in the mirror. "Some of them just ignored it, others egged it on, or even used their Quirk on me, too."

Shota felt his fists tightening. It was acceptable for UA teachers, Licensed Heroes, to use Quirks on their students in hero training if absolutely necessary, but what Midoriya was describing was illegal and abusive.

"You and All Might are the first two teachers I've had who I know wouldn't do that." Izuku looked down at his injured hands. "This is the first place where I can be sure that my classmates won't try to practice using their Quirks on me. That they actually don't find me a waste of space and won't use me as a punching bag." There were tears running down his face. "here, I'm not just a 'Deku'. And it's all because I happened to end up in the path of a villain who was trying to outrun All Might."

Shota had originally worried that he would have to probe Midoriya for the truth, but now he realized that the boy had been building up to it.

"Just over a year ago, All Might found me… I'm sure you know about the Sludge Villain incident. Did you know about the part the media didn't bring up?"

Shota did know. He also had a feeling he knew where the boy was taking this conversation, giving him the information, he was after while deflecting the conversation away from his own emotional health.

"About you rushing out there and throwing a backpack at the villain to buy Bakugou a few seconds? Yes, I know. I wondered why you didn't use your Quirk, then." He'd drawn his conclusions during the entrance exam in part because of that. He'd assumed the boy had refused to work with his Quirk without access to help, like Recovery Girl. He'd had no patience for that attitude. Midoriya had changed his view during the first day but his behavior ten months previously, not using his Quirk to save Bakugou still hadn't made sense. Now he had the missing piece to the puzzle. Shota also made note that the kid was deflecting the man away from the topic of his current state of physical and emotional health.

"It's because I didn't have one, then." Izuku declared, setting up the beginnings of a timeline for Shota. "All I had was a backpack, and years of notes." Tears had started leaking from the corners of his eyes as he continued, "I didn't even think, until I was almost to Kacchan. I'd nearly been killed by the Villain earlier, in the same way, but I remembered how his eyes never lost their shape. They were the only solid targets… Them, and his teeth. I saw that when he tried to suffocate me and use my body to hide. I-I still can't handle applesauce because the texture…" a shiver ran up the boy's spine as his face paled at the statement.

"You ran out there, even after you'd already been attacked by him?" That was equal parts impressive and terrifying. He knew of trained heroes who had trouble facing down situations related to experiences that had nearly cost them their lives.

"I exposed myself to people who'd hurt me before, and would happily do it again every day I went to school," Izuku stated, his tone far to matter of fact. "This was worse, but Kacchan needed help."

Midoriya continued. "That first time, All Might had been chasing the villain and he wanted a hiding spot… If All Might had been much later, I'd have been dead and the villain would've used my body to-…" The boy stopped and worked his jaw and Shota suspected he was recalling some pretty traumatizing memories. "All Might was at the end of his time limit, though. I didn't know that and I'd been so desperate to have a conversation with him that I latched onto his leg." The boy wilted as he thought about whatever had transpired between them. Shota only had a split second to note it before the continued, "It was only when I saw the villain with Kacchan that I realized I must've knocked him loose in the process."

The green-haired boy paused. Clearly, he could relate to Bakugou's feeling of guilt even more than Shota had originally suspected. "Still, I wasn't enough. If All Might hadn't found the strength to call upon One for All once more and stepped in again, I probably would've died from the blow the villain had been aiming at me. The heroes let me know that, too. It was amazing, how quickly they went from praising me for my quick thinking, to scolding me when they asked about my Quirk and I told them I didn't have one." Izuku trembled as he said, "I'd spent years learning about heroes and Quirks, and I couldn't do anything…"

"Whether you were fit to handle the situation, you did more than three trained heroes, who were on site, and a fourth who couldn't fit into the space," Shota retorted, unable to hold the comment back. Deep down, he knew that if he'd have been there, he'd have agreed that a Quirkless child had no business in such a situation. Still, he'd have also have pointed out that said kid's actions had been more effective than that of the trained heroes for saving the hostage, even if it would have been more to scold the heroes than praise the boy. "You gave Bakugou a moment to breathe that could have made the difference between life and death."

Midoriya looked up at him, lips wobbling as the waterworks sped up. "Thanks." He took a deep breath to collect himself. "On my way back…" He stopped himself from saying something and after a moment said, "All Might found me afterward, once he escaped the reporters. He said that my actions had inspired him to find that extra bit of power to save Kacchan from the sludge villain."

The boy's face became more unreadable, the tears stopping as he added, "That's when he revealed that he had a Transferrable Quirk."

A transferrable quirk. Shota took a deep breath, counted to ten and released it. "And he wanted to offer it to you."

Midoriya nodded. "One for All. It's a Quirk that's been passed from one user to the next, growing in strength with each transfer. I'm the ninth person of this borrowed power."

'Borrowed'. As in, _not_ his. Midoriya had never stopped seeing himself as Quirkless. Just that he'd been given a Quirk to hold, even as he tried to make it his own. Was he still technically Quirkless? He could hand the Quirk over to the next User, and go right back to not having one?

And the world would be a lot worse for it.

Still… "Would it be safe to assume from its title and its transferrable nature, that this Quirk as something to do with the man who wrecked Kamino Ward, since he and his Quirk are called 'All for One'?"

"All for One is about two hundred years old. A first-generational Quirk User. All Might suspects he probably got some sort of anti-aging Quirk and that's why he's still here. But, in the beginning, he had a little brother who stood against him. He was weak, sickly, and seemed to be Quirkless. The last part turned out to be wrong. He really had a Vestigial Quirk, that could be transferred to other people. All for One forced a stockpiling Quirk on him and it fused with that one, creating One for All. The brother passed it on, and it's been growing stronger with each User over the years. One for All users have used the Quirk to stand against All for One, ever since."

"You accepted One for All, even knowing that?"

"No. All Might didn't tell me about the origin of One for All until after the Hosu incident. You see, he was worried I would be scared that Stain might steal my Quirk since it's transferred by DNA and he'd gotten my blood. It led to him talking about how the Quirk could only be willingly given, never taken. All for One has the ability to take any Quirk except One for All."

"What?" All Might threw this kid to the wolves, without even telling him what he was in for? What the risks were? And this on top of just handing a fourteen-year-old this extremely powerful Quirk, without discussing it with his family?

And Midoriya clearly had no understanding of just how badly he'd been treated in all this. As was proven by his next comment, "He'd thought he'd killed All for One, so he didn't need to talk about it. Even if he told me, I would've accepted it, anyway."

"So, if he gave you the Quirk then, how did you go the ten months before the entrance exam without using it?"

"Oh, he didn't give it to me then. Using it would've blown my limbs off. He put me on a physical training regimen, so I could handle it. He didn't give me the Quirk until the morning of the exam. He warned me that it would come with a kickback but it still caught me off guard."

It was a good thing All Might wasn't here at that moment… It wouldn't be a positive influence to Midoriya's state of mind to see Shota throttle his favorite hero in front of him. And at the moment, he's not sure he would be able to hold himself back.

"You were right when you said I was counting on someone else being there to rescue me. I figured that I would have time to figure out how One for All worked before I had to use it again. Then, you gave me the ultimatum." Izuku smirked, a ghost of the challenge his smile held that day after he'd thrown the ball. Only this time, with the boy's history clearer, he saw more of a bite to it than he had on the field. "One more teacher telling me I couldn't be a hero." Then, the disturbing glimpse of darkness vanished, as if it had never been there but the implications of the statement would be echoing in Shota's head for a long time. "So, I had to forget about figuring out how to use it right and found a way that I could use it, there and then."

Shota fought the urge to grimace at the statement. "Did focusing your power like that interfere with learning how to use it properly?"

Izuku frowned and looked away, "Sensei…"

"Answer the question, Midoriya," Shota commanded. He wasn't going to let the kid brush something like that under the rug.

Midoriya sighed, "I learned to think of my Quirk, like an egg exploding in a Microwave. After the first day of class, I would focus on exploding only the parts I needed to use. During the hero shadowing, I worked with All Might's old trainer and he helped me realize that the way to keep my body from breaking was to balance the power through all of it, not just the part I was using."

Shota clenched his fists as he stated, "So, the short answer is 'yes'." As he said this, his temper flared.

Midoriya flinched and pulled away, and Shota froze, feeling his rage evaporate as he looked down at the boy who already looked ashamed for reacting that way.

He sighed and said, "It's not you I'm upset with." It's All Might. With every other member of UA staff who has any idea about this and leaving him in the dark and himself for missing, all the signs being flagged in front of him. "Even if I was, don't ever think that I'd hurt you for that."

"I… I know. It's just-…"

"Habit." Shota finished.

Midoriya nodded quietly, tears pricking the corners of his eyes again.

"You'll be meeting with Hound Dog but if you ever need someone else to talk to, I'll listen, although I doubt I'll be much for comfort."

Midoriya smiled, "Thanks."

"What I can do is make sure that you get the proper training you need with your Quirk."

Izuku cocked his head in confusion.

"I'm a licensed Quirk Counselor I was encountering a lot of people with altered, uncontrollable Quirks in the field and it helped to know how to approach them and encourage them to use what little control they had."

"The Tokyo Incidents?" Izuku asked.

"How did you even know I was involved in that?"

"Well, I didn't know for sure but I knew that there had to be a skilled underground hero involved. All the hall marks were there and you seemed like the best choice, because of your ability to disable Quirks…" Midoriya was mumbling now. Shota had seen it but had rarely been close enough to hear him doing it. It was a little unsettling. Then Midoriya's eyes widened and he blurted out, "You don't think that the Nomu…?"

"I'm almost positive their earlier experiments for the Nomu. I'm surprised you know about them."

"Well, after what happened at The Egg, I couldn't help but be curious. Suspicious, actually. I've read up a lot on Quirks." He'd slipped back into his rambling as he continued. "Sometimes, you'll get people with similar Quirks or a person with two Quirks, but multiple villains with the same flying and explosive Quirks…" Midoriya's hands flexed, as if reaching for something that wasn't there, "It got my attention. Not that I could do much, since I could only work with what I could find on the internet and in the news. Too far away for foot work… Sensei? All for One said he didn't get to steal Quirks very often. I think he tried to stay in hiding, since he was injured. Do you think the League had the resources, or man power to catch and keep all of those Nomu they used in Kamino Ward?"

No. No they didn't. Not even close.

The Villain Factory had to be predecessor to the Nomu Factory, Shota was sure of it. Yet, he'd seen no signs of the connection in the attacks from the League beyond the creatures, themselves. All for One was the mastermind behind it all, but a project like that would take many scientists and several victims, staff to collect them and resources to support them all.

"The League isn't all he had," Izuku stated the conclusion that Shota had just reached aloud.

It seemed so obvious, now. They should've started digging, immediately after the USJ. If not after that, then after Hosu, for sure. It might be time to reach out to some old connections. But, he didn't want Midoriya getting mixed in.

"Midoriya, I don't want you thinking about it." No, Shota would be doing that, instead. Because, damn, was that a good idea. But he needed to steer his student away from this. "What I was going to say before we got off track, was that I'll be seeing to your basic Quirk training."

That got the kids attention. "What?"

"UA's system operates on the assumption that it's students have had years to understand and familiarize themselves with their Quirks. The system already caused you to develop at least one poor habit. You need to learn the basics of your Quirk, so you don't misuse your power again, and injure yourself or those around you. I'm trained and practiced in handling people with altered Quirks and I know you, Midoriya. I've watched you use your Quirk, too. I can use that to help you learn to control your power properly."

Midoriya was trembling and crying, again. "Y-You'd do that?"

"Of course. It won't be easy. You'll probably have to work harder than the rest of your classmates."

"All you're telling me, is that my vacation of working only as hard as anyone else is over. I spent my whole life working harder than everyone else." He smiled, eyes glowing with determination and defiance.

Shota couldn't help but smile back for a moment. "Good. From now on, you'll report to the TDL, during your Monday, Wednesday and Friday, free hours. They aren't going to be free, anymore."

He'd offer after school hours instead but he was already devoting them to Shinsou's training.

"Yes, Sensei!"

There was a lot more he wanted to bring up with the teen, but he'd already been through enough tonight. The rest would all have to wait, "You should head back to your room."

"Can't I just wait until All Might gets back? So, he knows what we've talked about…"

It wasn't surprising that there might've been things Midoriya held back. For someone who was so poor at keeping secrets when directly confronted and for his willingness to help others, he was a very private when it came to his personal life. As an Underground Hero, Shota could respect that need.

He supposed he could allow the boy to talk to All Might before he had his own words with the man. "Fine."

After a few moments of silence, Midoriya said, "You know? When I was younger, I worked hard to study you. I was planning to be a hero, even before I had a Quirk, and even though All Might was my favorite hero, I knew that without a Quirk, I could never make it with his fighting style. So, I dug for heroes who'd have techniques more suitable to my plans of studying my opponents and using their weaknesses to neutralize them. When I found out about you, I realized that yours would've been one of the ones closest to what I'd need to stand a chance. After watching you in action, I'm even more sure I was right."

Shota bit his tongue, not wanting to express his doubts about the boy's childhood hopes of being a hero at all without any powers. Quirkless had no place in such a high-risk career. As uncomfortable as the idea made him to think of Midoriya not being a student of Class 1-A, without a Quirk, he would've been lucky to make it into UA at all and the Hero Course would've been a pipe-dream… And how many of his classmates would be crippled, or dead? What about All Might? Shota himself?

"How did you even find out about me?" Shota asked.

Midoriya lit up at the question. "I'd been tracking some of the other Underground Heroes," He stated. "I'd actually been tracking you, before I even knew who you were. Trying to separate you from a few other people by the environment you worked in, the style with which situations were diffused, villains apprehended and rumors. Your name came up on occasion. I visited some of the sites of your fights to study them, before the police had cleaned them up too much… I couldn't stick around too long, after they pulled out. A Quirkless kid is an easy target and the parts of cities you patrolled aren't always the best place for someone like me. Still, I figured out the signs to associate you with. It was a lot of work, keeping track, despite how active you are."

As Midoriya went on, Shota noted that he held one hand up like he was holding something, like a book, fingers of his other hand moving as if he were flipping through pages. The man suddenly found himself recalling the boy's mentions of notes, along with the pocket booklets he often pulled out in class.

"Midoriya, do you still have the notes you took?"

Midoriya's smile grew even wider, eyes sparkling as he nodded. "They're in some of the notebooks I wrote when I was younger…I think they start in hero analysis…three? Four, maybe? As I said, I learned about your work before I was able to connect your hero name to it. Of course, the best ones on you are after fourteen, since they focus on what I've seen this year." He was rocking back and forth slightly now, as if the rocking was the only thing containing his excited energy.

To be honest, Shota was terrified by the concept of an entire series of heavily detailed hero notes. It was an underground hero's worst nightmare… Multiple heroes actually, since he had a whole series going.

"Do you want to see them?" Izuku asked, excitedly. "It's okay if you don't. I asked a couple of classmates if they wanted me to see theirs, once, but they started seeming a little uncomfortable when I brought it up. So, if…"

"I want to see all of your notes. Not just what you have on me. In fact, when you get back to your dorm, wait for me. I shouldn't be too long." If they were as potent as Midoriya implied, he didn't want them out where anyone could get them… Certainly, not with at least one spy slinking around the school.

Midoriya seemed to detect the agitation in his voice, if his confused, slightly worried frown was anything to go by.

_**This scene hurt to take out. I took sections from it for that evolved into parts of the final conversation but this scene is basically a chapter or two in and of itself. **_

_**This version of the conversation fell victim to the horrors of Writers Block and was the sacrifice in order to escape one of the dread monsters of writers everywhere…and almost right into the jaws of the even greater one, Burn Out. This is the chapter that I mentioned in the introduction. So, you have it to thank both for nearly ending the story after Aizawa talked to Midoriya and Bakugou and for leading me to the idea of posting my deleted scenes.**_

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**That is the second set of my deleted scenes. I hope you enjoyed them and will post the next ones soon. The other two will be more comparable in length to the first one than this one.**


	4. Deleted Scenes Chapters 8-10

**Scenes off the Cutting Room Floor, Chapters 8-10**

**_An early version of the Confrontation between Aizawa and All Might had Izuku present after he and Aizawa had their conversation. That conversation between Izuku and Aizawa originally took place between chapters. The only context for what Izuku had said would be what Aizawa got onto All Might for._**

**_I ultimately cut this because I thought that neither teacher would want Izuku seeing them fight. Then I decided that I wanted to have the full conversation between Aizawa and Izuku, which you saw pieces earlier versions for in the last set of deleted scenes. I'm sure that you'll recognize some of the elements in it that made it to the final version of Aizawa and All Might's conversation, though. You can also pick up on my material for both conversations. There are also ideas that hadn't even crossed my mind at this point._**

Toshinori barely waited for the car to come to a stop before throwing the door open and giving Tsukauchi a couple quick parting words before he closed the door and took off through the gate. His friend understood the moment that he'd told him about the text he'd gotten. As they'd driven, he'd asked if he should give Gran Torino the heads up about having two more people in on their secret. Toshinori had insisted he'd take care of it once he had assessed the situation himself.

Again, Toshinori found himself comparing his current situation to how he would have been a short time ago. After receiving the text, he would have been able to reach the school in under a minute, taking only a second one to reach the Teacher's Lounge because he wouldn't want to create a draft that would blow out windows on his way by or put enough force behind his feet to crack tiles.

Now, Toshinori took almost three times as long just to run through the gate and reach the elevator, his costume flapping awkwardly, matching his height but not his thin figure, which was a far cry from the muscular form that it usually fit tightly over. It hung loosely from his body and as he waited for it to ascend, he leaned against the wall. There, he caught his breath so his raspy wheeze returned to something resembling normal breathing and he could get his bloody coughing under control. The spot where his stomach used to be throbbed in time with his heart.

Aizawa opened the door for him to come in, and he looked furious. "The day of the entrance exam? Really? And you couldn't even bother to tell him how much recoil damage he'd take?"

All Might flinched, "I didn't expect it to be quite that bad. I expected one or two bones at most."

Izuku was sitting on a comforter, looking uncomfortable. "Sorry, All Might. Kacchan figured it out and Aizawa saw our fight."

"Who else knows, All Might? Not just here at the school, either." Aizawa asked.

"Nezu, Recovery Girl, Naosama, Gran Torino, and Sir Night Eye."

"Don't forget the two-century old, quirk stealing Monster, All for One and whomever he might have shared the knowledge with. Alright, I'm counting ten people definitely having this knowledge, including Bakugou and myself. And considering you indoctrinated Midoriya in the middle of a suburban neighborhood who knows how many other people. I hate to break it to you All Might but any secret as big as this that reaches more than three people should be declared unsustainable. There's no question of if your secret will get out anymore, only where and when."

"If we're careful…"

"Careful? That ship has sailed, All Might. Ages ago."

Now that Aizawa had said it, All Might knew he was right. Too many people knew. They may be able to delay it for a while but there _would_ be a leak.

Aizawa looked from All Might to Izuku and said, "You should also consider telling your mother the truth. Personally, despite our conversation earlier," he glanced back at the kid and Toshinori wondered exactly what they'd talked about, "I think that you should have approached her before you made your offer but what's done is done. She probably knows that Midoriya is hiding something from her, considering she probably knows him well enough to tell when he's lying, anyway. I would recommend both of you be present for it."

Izuku nodded as he stared guiltily at a half full cup of coffee resting in front of him.

"Either way, I'll be taking you over to your home on one of the evenings to discuss Basic Quirk Counseling."

"Basic Quirk Counselling?" Izuku asked.

"To obtain and hold my first-year homeroom teacher position, I had to meet a few extra requirements in comparison to the rest of the staff, one of which was to earn a basic quirk counseling license. I always thought it was rather pointless, considering that it would mainly be for dealing with toddlers whose quirks were just manifesting. But now, understanding your unique situation, I'm glad for the courses. I'll find out the proper protocol to take up your case and inform Nezu. That should allow me to work with you even while I'm waiting for everything to come through and my position is officialized."

"You'd be my quirk counselor?" Midoriya asked with a mix of awe and disbelief.

"Unless you want someone else."

"No! No, you'll be great. I just… don't want to be any trouble."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow and said, "It's already too late for that. You're a trouble magnet." He sighed and added, "What I am concerned about is making sure you learn to use your quirk in a proper manner. The school's system is set up based on the assumption that each student has spent years mastering their control over their quirk. The curriculum could inadvertently end up enforcing poor habits. I'm going to highly recommend we set up a schedule where we devote a few hours each week to properly approach teaching you about your quirk and establish some basic exercises to better familiarize your body with it."

Izuku's eyes lit up at the statement, "Really?"

"It won't be easy," Aizawa stated, "You might even find yourself forced to work harder than anyone in your class. You shot across the start line with your shoes unlaced and it's a wonder you haven't tripped yourself up yet."

Midoriya chuckled at the statement, "Aizawa Sensei, I spent most of my life as a quirkless kid who wanted to be a hero, I've always been working harder than everyone else in my class for it. Except maybe Kacchan. You're just telling me that my vacation for working at the same rate as everyone else is over."

Aizawa's smile appeared at the boy's statement and Toshinori didn't bother to stop his own either. He couldn't help but think back to the time the boy collapsed, so determined to prepare his body to receive One for All, that he'd overexerted himself. The determination in the boy's eyes now was so reminiscent of what they had been at that moment, that he had to fight the urge to go over and pull the boy into another hug right there.

Aizawa broke him from his thoughts as he said, "I also have another assignment for you during that time. I want you to write a comprehensive description of One for All, writing everything that you understand about it in relation to you. How it works, how it feels when its active and inactive, effects of using it. Anything you can think of. This is so I can best plan out a management plan for your quirk, so don't skimp on the details. I want it ready when you return on Thursday. On Friday, you will meet me in the training area during your free period. Are we clear?"

All Might was hardly surprised at the smile growing on the boy's face for the assignment. Thinking about his notebooks, he knew that Aizawa's task wouldn't look like work to him. It was play. He wondered if he should warn Aizawa of what he'd just done.

"Perfectly, Aizawa Sensei," young Midoriya said.

"Good, you can go then."

"Thank you," Izuku said and then gave Eraserhead a hug. To his surprise, the man returned it for a moment before patting the boy on the back.

But instead of letting Aizawa go afterward, Izuku instead stated, "And he had a ton of physical mutation quirks. If you'd showed up, he would have probably just targeted you first. He might have even expected you to be there, so I'm glad you weren't. Don't blame yourself for not being there for that. If anything, it probably threw off his plans." Only when he was done saying that did Izuku break away and dart out into the hallway.

Aizawa was staring after him, mouth agape.

All Might took a moment to figure out just what Midoriya was talking about. And then it hit him. All for One. Had Aizawa been the reason that All for One had relied so heavily on physical mutational quirks? After the fight, experts have noted that of the quirks they could detect that he was using to support himself in his deteriorated condition, most were subtle physical mutation types. It had seemed odd at the time.

But if All for One had planned for Eraserhead, he would have prioritized quirks that couldn't be shut off, both for fighting and keeping whatever he had resembling a heart beating. Otherwise, the fight could have ended half a second after Eraserhead saw him, maybe even before All Might could actually land a blow. "I didn't even think about how things might have been if you were there. I don't think I would've thought of All for One expecting it if I had but thinking about the quirks he used, he must have. Nezu probably guessed that All for One'd expect you." All Might muttered.

"I should have thought of it," Aizawa stated. "Midoriya did."

"Midoriya beat us both in quirk analyzation. I'd say you should see one of his notebooks, but looking at the quirk analysis project you just told him to do, you're going to get to see it for yourself in a few days."

The man spun to glare on him, hair standing on end. "Since we're on the topic of Midoriya, I have a few things to say to you."

All Might felt a twinge of fear run up his spine as Aizawa's eyes turned red and his hair stood on end. He might not have a quirk to deactivate anymore but it was still terrifying.

"What the hell were you thinking, taking a quirkless kid and handing him a quirk like that without even discussing any of the risks in detail. You didn't even talk to his mother about it! And you most certainly didn't stress the importance of keeping it secret correctly. Now we have a kid on the verge of crippling himself from overusing his quirk getting into one villain attack after another. Furthermore, now there's an extra two people who know the truth. And do you think that monster who fought you is going to ignore the opportunity to dispose of a threat who's supposed to grow stronger than you while he's still this weak if he escapes? I'm amazed that Midoriya wasn't one of the kids on the League's list to be snatched and delivered directly to the bastard. If I had the slightest idea about any of this, I would have kept Midoriya out of the UA tournament for his own safety, risk to his reputation be damned. I probably would have kept him at the school for more focused training on his quirk while sending the other students to their internships."

The tournament…maybe that's how All for One figured out that Midoriya was the next inheritor of One for All. But the quirk had expressed itself differently in young Midoriya than it did in him or his mentor.

"That's actually why Gran Torino took him for the internship. It's why he came back able to use it without hurting himself."

And then Aizawa's face went still, "He was in Hosu with a quirk he'd barely had a couple months and had learned to control enough to prevent backlash within the last couple days. And I'm not stupid enough to think that he, Iida, and Todoroki just happened to meet up from their separate internships in an Alley where the Hero Killer was." He shook his head. "These kids…"

"Off the record, Endeavor never actually engaged with Stain."

Aizawa took another sip of his coffee, hand reaching up for capture equipment that was not there in a nervous habit, "They'll put me in an early grave."

"As for your concerns with All for One, he's perfectly secure. He can't reach Midoriya from the inside of his cell."

"And before, for years, he was dead. And until this year, we were certain that no one would ever attack the top hero school in the country. Now we're taking measures to better protect our students and All for One has gone from dead to locked up. Nothing should look certain anymore."

Just like with his statement about the numbered days of the secret of One for All, this sounded all too true now that Aizawa had said it.

"I've made some big mistakes." He muttered.

"And Midoriya is paying the price. Along with Bakugou, since he knows now." _And you_, All Might thought as he listened to the younger man continue. "Now we need to fix as many of them as possible and make sure he's prepared to handle the fallout of those we can't. Midoriya needs to be fast tracked. We need to shore up any weaknesses and build on any strengths he has." He sighed and added, "In the morning, I'll talk to Nezu about this and you should talk to Bakugou as soon as you can. Don't tell him any more than you have to."

All Might opened his mouth to object but Aizawa cut him off, "If you tell him too much, I will request you be barred from teaching here. You've put Midoriya and by extension, Bakugou, in enough danger as it is. I will not see it go any further. Tell him only what he needs to know in order to stay safe but the more details he has, the bigger a target he will become."

All Might looked down at his feet and sighed, "That would be fair."

"But I don't want to do it if I don't have to."

All Might nodded, "I must apologize for my previous behavior. It was irresponsible of me as a teacher and a mentor."

Aizawa sighed and said, "It's a learning process." He looked at the man and said, "Now, let's start with your knowledge of that quirk. I'd also like a description like what I just told Midoriya to do, so can have two accounts to compare.

And this wraps up the deleted scenes for the night's conversations. For the final part of the 'Intermission,' it will be the deleted scenes for when Izuku and Bakugou are back in the dorms.


	5. Deleted Scenes Chapters 11-13

**Scenes Off the Cutting Room Floor, Chapters 11-13**

**This is the last set of deleted scenes for this round of chapters. I will eventually post the deleted scenes for future chapters.**

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_**I played around with the final scenes for the night for a while and originally, I was going to open a whole new can of worms around Recovery Girl's statement that she wouldn't heal Izuku if he messed himself up again like he did at the sports festival. Then I decided that would be taking things too far for the first night. I'm hoping to bring it up eventually and have some ideas in mind, but I don't know exactly when I'll use them. **_

_**Originally, neither Izuku nor Katsuki thought about Shoji two doors down and he overheard them. This was when I thought I would be at like, chapter 4 or 5 when I reached this point. It's funny, looking back now at the fact that their interaction takes place in chapter 11-13. There were parts that I couldn't even figure out how to write. It's sections like the ones in italics here that can often act as major roadblocks in chapter completion or force an entire chapter change**__._

Bakugou raised an eyebrow, until the other teen cracked open the box to reveal a plethora of medical supplies.

"Deku, why the fuck you have a medical kit? That's what Recovery Girl is for!"

"Not for me… Not since the Sports Festival. She told me she was tired of me depending on her. So, I pulled out the medical kit, again. If I can, I just pull one of these out and heal up on my own." He smiled and added, "I've had years of experience with treating injuries. The difference is that, now, I don't have to steal and substitute the materials to hide how I was getting hurt from Mom."

There was so much wrapped up in that explanation. "No, instead, you're hiding that you're not getting healed from what everyone else does. Fuck. _Fuck!_ Deku, how much time have you spent walking around with busted ribs and fractured bones but acting like you're, fine when you're not? Do our teachers know?"

"It's not a big deal, Kacchan. I don't think they do, but I don't want to go around behind Recovery Girl's back and tell anyone. Especially, when I know how to deal with it myself. I did it for-"

They heard a door creak open and looked over to see Shoji had come out from his room.

Katsuki growled, "Eavesdropping now, Tentacles?"

For a moment, Shoji was silent. Finally, one of his tentacles formed a mouth, as he said, "Sorry, when I sleep, I form parts at random… I had a few ears on. I caught what you were talking about." Another tentacle became an eye, reaching closer to Deku as the mouth asked, "Midoriya, I saw you take a few good hits during training. I know you at least cracked a couple ribs. Please, tell me you didn't really go to the exam like that."

"It's fine," Deku said, gesturing to himself, "I've dealt with worse."

Izuku took a step forward and, despite the fact that Katsuki knew he had to be hurting, he didn't move like he was bothered at all.

Suddenly, Katsuki recalled how after beating him up when they were younger, how annoyed he had been the next time they saw him when it looked like he'd hardly been hurt at all. It had made him want to hit Deku harder, and sometimes he did.

Now, he felt his stomach twist. He'd felt it. _All of it_.

Katsuki and his extras were the reason Deku could act like that. And he was here because he knew Katsuki didn't know how to handle it.

_Kirishima came in helped Izuku and Katsuki with treating their injuries. Meanwhile, when Aizawa returned to the dorm, he was met by Shoji, who tells him about the conversation between the two boys._

And just when Shota thought he couldn't get any more bad news, Shoji's news that Izuku had already been banned from using Recovery Girl's Quirk without his knowledge and had, instead, been resorting to a medical kit and walking around with naturally healing injuries, pissed him off. Even more so now that he was aware that she knew his student's status as a newly fledged quirk user.

"Shoji, are Midoriya and Bakugou still awake?"

"Yes, they're still in Bakugou's room."

Shota decided he was going to drag Recovery Girl into this.

_He knocks onto Bakugou's door, where Midoriya and Bakugou both were, and stated that he'd changed his mind. The boys were getting healed. They could even go right now, if they wanted to._

_When they asked if that would cause a problem for Recovery Girl, Aizawa stated that she was about to have trouble, anyway. He demanded Midoriya bring his medical kit._

Shota sent a text to Chiyo, informing her that he had two students who got in a fight and needed healing.

When Recovery Girl saw the two boys, she glared at Aizawa and stated, "These boys can heal just fine."

"I know. I originally wasn't going to send them up, but then Midoriya decided to use his own medical prowess to help his classmate." He slammed a plastic tackle box on her table, "He's stocked for medical supplies. Take a look. It's quite impressive. Turns out, whenever I've sent him to see you since the sports festival, he's been turning to this and faking being reasonably healed. He's very good at it."

Chiyo looked in the box. It was impressive. Complete, with not just bandages antiseptics and various ointments, but splints, needle and thread, and super glue.

Midoriya shrank in his seat.

Chiyo frowned. She quickly kissed the two boys and looked back at Aizawa. Unsurprisingly, Midoriya took more energy to heal, sporting who knows how many older injuries along with the ones from tonight.

As the two teens looked at Aizawa, he stated, "The rest of the conditions of your punishment still hold, but you will not be punished for getting your work done late tomorrow evening, if you need an afternoon nap. You may return to your rooms."

The two boys wondered out, Midoriya trying to act more awake than he was and Bakugou trying to act like he'd chosen to walk so slowly simply for the sake of doing so, rather than out of concern that his classmate might just drop from exhaustion.

_**I will not go further because I may eventually write a scene approaching this issue and I want to keep the snippet I have to build off if (or more likely when) I do.**_

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_**This was most of the next ending for the night. Izuku manages to distract Bakugou from the implications of his statement about the Odura Middle School's hand in healing his scars before he has a chance to punch a hole in the wall. I didn't like how part of it flowed and tried to tinker with it and instead found the whole scene being ejected from my story and replaced with a couple chapters worth of new material.**_

He looked at the supplies he had out. "I'm ready, if you are."

Katsuki looked down at the mix of supplies laid out. He looked at a dark colored plastic soda bottle and asked, "What's this?"

'Antiseptic,' Izuku mouthed.

"Did you make that shit, yourself?"

Deku lifted it up and said, "Yeah. It takes a little work, but it's good." He cracked the bottle open and placed a cotton swab on the opening before flipping it for a moment.

Katsuki hated having to assume that someone was listening. Deku had made his own antiseptic and, if the smell was anything to go by, it could probably second as fucking moon shine.

"Wait, do you know what will happen if it's introduced to my sweat?"

Deku froze, his eyes widening. "I didn't even think about that." He frowned, placing the bottle down as he asked, "Do you actually sweat nitroglycerin, or is it something else? It might make a difference, if we do this again in the future. Does it provide antibiotic or antiseptic properties? I wonder. Seeing as it's an explosive, I wouldn't even think of such an application, but it wouldn't matter for you, since you're constantly-"

"You keep up with that creepy mumbling shit and I'll throw your ass out the door, right now."

Izuku instantly fell silent. He put the antiseptic back and pulled out some pads and gauze. "Could you show me where I need to look?"

After a moment's hesitation, Katsuki took the supplies and started applying them to his injuries, as Deku did the same for himself. The green-haired boy, occasionally, glanced over when he fumbled, as if he thinks Katsuki might ask for help.

Katsuki had to remind himself that Deku wasn't looking down on him. With that thought, he crushed the frustration rising within him at the others concern. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite kill it the way he wanted to.

He worked quickly to treat the wounds as best he could, without using any of the antiseptic or antibiotic components.

Katsuki's applications were noticeably sloppier than Deku's, as they worked side by side.

Deku was as skilled with the med kit as Katsuki was with housework.

It left a bad taste in Katsuki's mouth. And the more he watched and thought about it, the more pissed he became. After a few minutes, he said, "You can just leave some supplies and go back to your room, you know. I'm fine."

The rest were under his clothes anyway.

"You sure?" Deku asked, before looking up and going ramrod straight.

Katsuki grunted an affirmative. He suddenly just wanted Deku, with hands too familiar with this work, to get out.

And Deku seemed to get that message. He started to get up.

Hopefully, Katsuki's increasing anger would leave with him.

"Okay, I'll just leave some supplies here and you can return any that you don't use."

"What about you?" Bakugou stated, taking in his classmate's own scuffed up appearance. Even as he made a promise to himself to get his own supplies and learn how to do this shit for himself, so he wouldn't have to rely on Deku for it again.

"Don't worry, I've got a spare kit in my room. There's enough for the rest of my scrapes. Night Kacchan." With that, he opened the door and left the room, leaving his medical supplies for Katsuki to use.

_**I actually cut the end from this and used it as the base for the scenes at the end of chapter 13, with some adjustments for the new material, of course.**_

* * *

_**When I was first writing the events that took place after Kirishima busted through the wall, I had just made a student's only scene, but I realized that this wasn't realistic. Aizawa would notice that the students were all wound up. This is the little piece of the chapter I had to sacrifice in order to fit him in. when Iida decided to wait until morning to tell him, he wasn't there to step in.**_

"If both Bakugou and Kirishima can tolerate the hole between their rooms, I think we can be done with this."

"Yeah, whatever." Bakugou stated.

"Works for me," Kirishima added.

The others gave verbal or visual affirmatives.

"Then, I expect everyone to return to their rooms, immediately." Then Tenya looked over at Midoriya and Bakugou, "Unless, you two need further assistance with your treatment?"

"We're done." Bakugou declared tersely.

"But Kacchan-"

"I said, _we're done_."

Midoriya didn't try to argue again, but it seemed that their newfound amiability had been stretched to its limits tonight.

* * *

_**When I'm working late, my tired mind forms many interesting ideas that can turn out to be really good for my story. But at times like this, I also get scenes where that are just beyond the realm of possibility for making them fit. Involving things characters might think but would never say aloud. Or maybe a character will have moment that doesn't fit with where they are in their character arc. This is a little late-night writing that just wouldn't fit in this chapter or this part of the story in the last conversation with Aizawa. All that remains in the main story is a hint of unease that Izuku has when he responds to Aizawa's order to go to Recovery Girl if he needed her to heal him, rather than become over reliant on a med kit.**_

"But what if she refuses to heal me?"

_It was too late for this!_ "Why would you think she'd do that?"

"Because she told me she would, if I keep hurting myself."

In the time it took for those words to sink in, Momo added something just as damning, completely preventing any chances of him slipping into denial. "And I was worried when she told me she'd cut me off from the food she provides, if I kept overexerting my Quirk. I've been storing extra snacks in my lockers, just in case."

Shota stared at the pile of medical supplies overflowing from their carrying case with a new understanding he'd never asked for as he finally found his voice, "Is there anyone else in this room she's set restrictions for?"

The negatives weren't all that much of a relief. Shota nodded. He looked between Midoriya and Yaouorozu and stated, "The next time she tells either of you something like that, you come straight to me. Do you understand?"

"But-!" Midoriya began to protest.

"Straight. To. Me." He looked between the problem child and the Vice President of 1-A. "And I want to be informed of any such statements she makes in the future."

"Yes, sensei." Yaoyorozu stated.

Izuku bit his lip before asking, "What if she gets angrier?"

Shota looked at him in confusion.

Until Bakugou stated, "Do you remember my background check, and how I had a perfect record?"

Yes, and fuck. Because anyone who'd spent a day with Bakugou would know he couldn't go a week without getting a mark, let alone years.

"Kacchan…" Izuku began worriedly, knowing the other boy was throwing himself to Shota's mercy.

"Shut the fuck up, Deku!" Bakugou snapped. "I'm tired of finding out how you helped push me across the starting line, when I wasn't looking! Especially, after what you just said about the Aldera, making a deal about hiding your fucking injuries!"

_**I've got plans that deal with Recovery Girl in a different way that would segue into other things but the fact that approaches to dealing with her in completely different stages of development just tell how I'm chomping at the bit to deal with her. Sadly, my plans delay this for quite a while, unless I have some big epiphany beforehand, which happens from time to time.**_

* * *

**I hope that you have enjoyed this selection of deleted scenes for this part of my story. Now you know one of the secret reasons it takes me so long to get my chapters written. I scrap entire sections and replace them with new ones.**

**This is the first story I've written where I've saved those scenes, rather than just deleted them. I really regret all the material I now realize that I've thrown out over the years.**

**Enjoy the story and I will post more deleted scene sections here in the future.**


	6. Deleted Scenes Chapters 15-17

**Coming up with a starting point is hard for me, whether it's for an entire story or just a little section. Many starts get left behind in my struggle to get something that feels right to me.**

* * *

_**I originally always forgot to put at least one teacher with the students, that one being Aizawa at the dorm right now. So, I had him going back to the main staff building. The next morning, Present Mic greeted him with a cup of coffee.**_

When he was drawn out of his room into the hall of the Staff Dorm by the smell of coffee, he saw Yamada standing there with a cup for him. Yamada took one look at him and he could see that the man instantly knew he wasn't doing well. "Hey, heard your kids kept you up last night. Figured I'd bring the coffee to you today."

"Thanks," Shota said, grateful enough that he actually felt a small smile come to his face as he took the drink and took a gulp. He pretended he hadn't noticed the concern on his friends face the moment he stepped out.

"Shota, did you get any sleep last night?" Which was code for, 'are you alright?' A question which they both knew that Shota wouldn't answer if Yamada asked directly. By instead asking about his sleep, they could both pretend that the verbalized question was all he was asking.

Shota glanced over the cup at his friend and coworker. He let his shoulders sag slightly as he said, "Not really."

"Is it something you want to talk about?"

"I can't."

Yamada frowned. Shota had made sure that his friend had understood early that his career choice meant that there were things that he had to keep secret. It turned out that, this also bled over to serious issues that came up in professions dealing with children as well and Yamada even had occasions where he could not share troubles with Shota. 'No,' on the other hand, meant they just didn't want to talk about it for personal reasons. 'I can't' was a way of warning each other that it was something more serious. The simple act of stating that he couldn't talk about something was the best he could do, and more than anyone else, except maybe Nemuri, would get from him.

Yamada nodded respectfully, his frown remaining for a moment before he quickly changed the subject. "Well, grab your sleeping bag, come down and grab some breakfast. You need to have more than those packets of yours."

Shota huffed and took another sip of coffee as he ducked back into his room to grab the supplies he had heaped onto the floor the night before following his friend but he said, "I can't, I'm off to talk Nezu this morning."

"At this hour, he might not even be in his office yet. You might as well…" he saw the look on Shota's face and his smile completely disappeared, "please tell me that you're not about to do what I think you are."

"Fine, I won't."

"Shota, last time someone did that, they were buried under so much paperwork it took a month to dig themselves out of it."

"Oh, trust me, he's already done it. This is a return of a favor."

"Wow. What did he do?"

"Played his usual games and got caught," He smiled. "And I plan to remind him why he doesn't do that with me."

"Are you telling me that you're about to catch Nezu with his hand in the cookie jar and you can't even talk about it?"

"Basically."

"It must be big."

"That's putting it mildly," It was big enough for impacts to be felt all over Japan. "I only waited this long because I needed to order my thoughts." 'And sort through my emotions,' Shota silently added.

"Well, before you go, you're going to have to visit the teacher dorm mascot. He's on the living room couch right now."

Shota didn't voice any complaints as Yamada led him over to where a familiar figure was curled up.

When Nemuri had moved in, she'd brought Sushi and declared him the Staff Dorm 's mascot. No one had any major objections, and he'd even found the feline curled up against Hound Dog a couple of times while he was seated on the couch.

The tabby was older and rounder but still easily recognizable as the one three second year student's and one third year had spent a great deal of time bonding over, years ago. Nemuri had convinced Nezu to allow him to stay, since they were fortunate enough to have no one with cat allergies in the teacher dorm. She was responsible for cleaning up after him, but Shota and Yamada had found themselves pitching in.

As Shota approached the couch that the cat now occupied, it cracked an eye open, lazily rolled belly up and started purring.

Shota scrubbed the fur at the base of Sushi's neck for a couple minutes and smiled as the cat reached out with his paws when he finally pulled away, but Shota couldn't take the time to meet the feline's demands for further scrubbing. He had work to do.

It did make him feel a little better though. He even grabbed a bagel before walking out, even if that was more to put Yamada peace of mind than anything else.

_**Those of you readers who read vigilantes know the importance of the adorable kitty here. Those who don't get an adorable scene of fluffiness**_

_**Now I know Hound Dog is based on a dog but from my personal experience, the thing about dogs and cats hating each other is just a played-up troupe. I've found they often either tolerate each other or enjoy each other's company. **_

_**So, yeah, Sushi will may show up in the teacher's dorm later in the main story. Let me know how you feel about that.**_

* * *

_**This scene goes hand in hand with the last one. I had a teacher free space for the student dorm still when I wrote this but, in this version, Bakugou hadn't punched the wall or woken up most of the dorm the previous night.**_

Tenya walked into the common living room to see Midoriya sitting there, a notebook in front of him. His notebook was open and he was staring at it. Ida smiled, such commitment! "Studying, Midoriya? A great way to start the morning! But you're usually out running before me."

Suddenly Izuku looked up and closed the book shut with a snap and Iida realized from his shiny, bloodshot eyes he'd been crying. He smiled and said, "Oh, good morning Iida. Is it time for your run already?" He glanced out, the window, seeming to notice the dark blue predawn light stretching across the lawn.

"Are you all right."

"I…" Izuku looked down at his notebook and Iida noticed there was a small white tube next to it.

"Midoriya, you know if there's anything that you need to talk about, we're here for you. That's what friends are for."

Midoriya looked up at him for a moment before he started crying. "Thanks. I…I think that might be good. Aizawa sensei and I talked last night…"

Tenya was about to ask why when Midoriya said, "If I tell you why right now, there won't be time to talk about this."

"My notebooks came up and…" Midoriya started flipping through some pages until he came to one and pushed it over to Iida, "He said they're too dangerous to keep."

"If Aizawa Sensei thinks they're dangerous, then should I really…"

"It's your page."

Tenya looked down at the page. And read an analysis on himself. An incredibly accurate one with sketches to accompany it. Strengths, weaknesses, questions, possible training methods to improve, both in speed and ability to take sharp turns. "Midoriya these are…"

Then he saw the counters.

Some of which were brutal, crippling counters.

"I tend to think everything through. It's a habit I've had since I was little. My first one is just pictures because I didn't know how to write yet. I know how they look. Aizawa'll be collecting my journals today…all eighteen."

"Eighteen?" Tenya parroted as he looked back up at the other boy. He only had three pages here. He had eighteen books.

"There's things in my books that I don't want anyone to see. I was going to start…to try to…" He grabbed the white tube and passed it over to Tenya.

"White out?"

"I have things I think about that I don't want anyone to see. And secrets. There's things I don't talk about, so I'd write them instead. And I was going to get rid of them but…I can't! I can't even take the brush out. And this book just has one page that needs it." He was trembling and crying.

Tenya put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure you could ask Aizawa sensei not to look at them, right."

Izuku blinked and looked up at him. "Huh."  
"He said they're too dangerous to have out, not that he had to read them. I'm sure if you explain it to him, he'll listen. Aizawa Sensei wouldn't breach your privacy. At least not without a major reason. Right?"

"I g-g-guess…" he swallowed. "No, he wouldn't. Maybe I could ask to show him the parts that are okay to look at. That way he can use it to help people, but he doesn't read the stuff that I don't want him." He smiled, "Thanks, Iida."

"I'm glad I could help. Although, I want to talk about what you have about everyone in there, later. But for now, why were you talking to Aizawa Sensei last night?"

It was at this moment that Bakugou walked by, not even stopping as he said in the most matter of fact tone Tenya had ever heard from him, "Deku and I got in a fight last night."

"What?!" Tenya exclaimed but Bakugou was already in the kitchen.

Midoriya added, "We're under house arrest for three days. We'll be cleaning the common areas twice a day."

"You two are lucky to have just gotten off with house arrest…!" Iida scolded, furious. "I suppose that means we'll be attending the opening ceremony without you then!"

* * *

_**And to continue with the aborted story lines, for a while I was playing with Nezu walking in on Aizawa and Yagi while they were having their conversation or maybe show up before/after All Might. This section reflects that idea. It also, once again, brings up Recovery Girl.**_

_**Of course, Shota wasn't halfway to the school when Tenya Iida came round the bend, spotted him and ran over. Please don't give him more bad news.**_

_**It was more bad news.**_

_**Aizawa told his students that just because this wasn't a villain attack, that didn't mean it could 'wait until the morning. Damage to school property was a serious issue. He told the students they were going to lose their study hour to drills before heroics class today and Kirishima would be joining Bakugou and Midoriya today in their house arrest.**_

_**He then decides to go and deal with Midoriya's notebooks again as well as his secret Med Kit. He then takes the books as well, promising to return it by the end of the day.**_

Izuku opened his door and led Aizawa in, His teacher glanced around the room but his face gave nothing away about how he felt about the room, decked out with so much All Might memorabilia that other hero related merch seemed to disappear into it at first glance, even though he had enough of that to be ID'd as a hero fan boy without including his favorite hero turned mentor's merch.

Izuku led his teacher over to the shelf that held his books. "Here they are." He looked at them and bit his lip. "I've paperclipped a few pages together throughout the books. I wrote in these thinking that no one would look at them, so there's things I don't want to share." Things like his notes on the marks Kacchan's various applications of his quirk left on him in earlier books and of the revelations surrounding his discussion with Todoroki in the hallway. He'd considered ruining the notes but the idea of ruining his books like that, even a few pages, made him feel sick to his stomach.

Aizawa nodded. "Would it bother you if I looked at the rest."

Izuku shrugged, "if you want to." Izuku took them out and stared at the bag his teacher pulled out to put them into. And just kept staring, unmoving, books in hand. Was he really doing this? Was he really handing his books over to Aizawa.

Aizawa carefully tucked the tiny books away. "If you have any spare time between cleaning the dorm and your writing assignments, I'd recommend you research cryptography. The sooner you have a handle on it, the more quickly you'll be allowed to write again."

**(A part of this scene as been removed for possible later use. Basically, there were some suggestions for Izuku to prepare for his adjusted curriculum when he gets back to school)**

"Does Nezu know about One for All?"

Aizawa growled and asked, "You really don't even know everyone that's aware of One for All?"

Izuku shook his head, more than a little embarrassed.

He pulled out a pen from his pocket, judging by the fact that it was red, it was probably the one he graded written assignments with. "Give me a scrap of paper."

Izuku did as requested and Aizawa scribbled some names down, "these are the ones All Might told me about last night." He circled one name and said, "Naosama is someone both All Might and I are familiar with. He's also personally involved himself in as many of the cases related to Class 1-A as possible. You can trust him and if you ask the police for him, there's a good chance he'll be easily reachable for you. Don't abuse that though. He's extremely busy."

Izuku nodded as he took the sheet back, seeing the name had been circled and a number written in next to it. The fact that Aizawa vouched for him spoke for itself.

He also looked at the other names. "Sir Night Eye knows, too?"

"I don't really know him."

**This is a gap in the conversation that I couldn't figure out how to fill. And guess who sails back into my work here…**

Izuku pulled out his med kit. "I've kept ones with me since I was probably about six. I didn't like how much it hurt Mom to see me hurt when I asked her to 'make it better.'" Izuku stated.

"And what of your visits to the nurse's offices at your previous schools. I'm sure that they were documented."

"Teachers don't send clumsy quirkless children to the nurse's office. And if they reported every accident, it could ruin records." For classmates and teachers.

"Midoriya…"

Izuku didn't look up at Aizawa. Instead, he pulled out the tacklebox and placed it on the table and opened it up. "I did a lot of bottle collecting but it wasn't enough for everything. Still, I didn't just use them for me. Some of the other kids at school would come to me when no one looked." He smiled and joked, "some called me their medical supply dealer. As if bandages, super glue and alcohol-soaked pads were some illegal substance. Or daring to claim dependence on someone with no power."

Izuku felt a hand on his shoulder.

"And what about now?"

"Habit?"

The silence told him that Aizawa wasn't buying it.

"Recovery Girl is sick of me coming to her. She told me after the Sports Festival that she refused to heal me anymore. For now, I think it's just for big stuff but I don't want to risk…"

"Midoriya, when was the last time you were healed by Recovery Girl?"

Snap, click. Izuku turned to see Aizawa. Grabbing up the Kit.

"Sensei?"

"I know how hard you push your body." There were a couple of falls where Aizawa sent Izuku off to treat his injuries. A few good bumps. Maybe a cracked rib. Izuku had always been good at walking that kind of thing off.

"I'm fine."

The man glared quietly.

"I haven't been since I woke up in the hospital." Then, hoping to calm the man, he added, "look, I'm okay."

"Go to Recovery Girl's office and get her to treat your wounds. When she deems you well enough to leave, come directly back to the dorms."

"But you said…"

"Not to treat your own selfish injuries. Those you received during training and…you went to the Licensing Exam like that, Midoriya." He looked furious.

"But Recovery Girl…"

"And I will be talking later."

**He then goes back to the teacher's dorm and requests Hizashi watch his students for the beginning of Homeroom and possibly escorting them to the assembly if need be because he STILL needed to talk to Nezu beforehand. **

"Shota, what's wrong?"

"I just figured out that Recovery Girl has been dictating whether or not she's going to heal student's and they're being silent about it."

"What?"

"You remember that fall Midoriya took a week ago that you were there for. The one that definitely involved at least a cracked rib. Turns out, Midoriya hasn't been to see Recovery Girl since he woke up in the hospital before the Hosu incident, out of fear that she'd further revoke use of her quirk than she apparently already did."

"Shota."

The man took a deep breath. "My student has been walking around for a week like that, including his Licensing Exam, and has enough skill at bearing injuries that he could fool me."

**Shota then spots All Might coming down, pale as a sheet and tells the man to 'go to bed and sleep, he'd cover classes this afternoon." After All Might refuses and heads in to work, the look Yamada shoots to Shota seemed to ask Shota, 'see how frustrating it is?'**

* * *

_**So originally, the whole conversation between Nezu and Aizawa was going to be done from Aizawa's perspective. This was originally going to be the build up to the confrontation but then I switched to Nezu's Point of View.**_

_**I was trying to fit it in right before we viewed the morning from Nezu's perspective but it didn't feel right, so now the scene will be here.**_

Shota remembered that, when he was little, he believed his elementary teachers and principal didn't just work at their schools but lived there, staying day and night, only stepping out of the building during recess, gym and evening activities. At some point while growing up he'd obviously realized that school staff were people with lives beyond their job. Looking back, that, along with many other misconceptions, seemed laughable.

Except now, thanks to the League of Villains, he and his coworkers were living in something comparable to that as their new reality. Sure, they could go off site but they lived on campus now. Here to guarantee the safety of the students who'd also been uprooted from their homes or previous living arrangements to the school.

There was one staff member however, for whom living on site was not new.

Nezu may be one of the most influential members of their society but he was also not human.

That meant that living in a society of humans was dangerous. Many people couldn't even accept members of their own damn species, let alone an intelligent mammal who wouldn't even specify what he was.

Nezu, being a genius because of his quirk and paranoid as hell due to his 'upbringing,' had no delusions of the challenges and dangers for him as he made his living among humanity. As a result, at some point in his professional career in the 'unbreachable fortress' that was UA, he moved in. He didn't claim any room, though…not any official room, that was.

Bu, many buildings had unused spaces and the UA main building was no exception. Shota had seen the blueprints and also had a keen sense of spatial awareness, with eyes trained to look for such things. Villains liked to use them for hiding goods or people. The main buildings had plenty to spare for a creature with a tendency for small dark spaces…like a bear in a cave or a rodent in the walls.

It had taken Shota about half a year and a child's accidental quirk misfiring to find out Nezu used those spaces at all. Eavesdropping equipment was blown to bits, destroyed to the point that it was only recognizable to the trained eye.

It took another two years of subtle hunting in order to figure out where Nezu spent his off hours… although he'd quietly found and noted three exit spaces along the way. More, if he counted the way elevators seemed to take a few seconds sometimes took longer than usual to travel between floors, closing empty and opening with a familiar furry white figure waiting patiently within.

He'd chosen a nice quiet spot a floor below his office and Shota suspected that he had probably reinforced the space with extra soundproofing for his sensitive hearing.

If one were to check the floor plan, they'd realize that an entire classroom's worth of space was going 'unused,' There. One of a few throughout the buildings. Aizawa still didn't know what Nezu used the others for. He wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

Still, even after knowing, Aizawa had spent the years since identifying the location pretending to be clueless, although he suspected Nezu wasn't fooled.

Today seemed like a good day to blow his act right out of the water.

Shota walked right up to the wall and gave it three good knocks.

"We need to talk." Shota declared. "I'll meet you at your office."

* * *

**And thus, the deleted scenes chapters 15-17.**


	7. Deleted Scenes Chapters 18-19

**Shota and Aizawa's Conversation generated so many alternate paths. It was so hard to complete…which means lots of cut versions to share! Like…there's as much that was cut as actually posted, even with a scene omitted from this due to spoilers within it.**

* * *

_**So, this scene was written before I'd really considered Nezu much. I suppose it could have technically been considered a chapter 17 deleted scene, considering that the start of the scene was replaced with the 'tale of the traveling Quirk' comment.**_

Shota knocked on the door to Nezu's office.

"Come in!" Shota stepped in, and Nezu looked up. "Ah, Aizawa. How are you doing this fine morning? I'm sorry to hear that you had some issues yesterday with a couple of your students."

"Yes, and what a shame it might've been avoided, if the proper actions had been taken for their psychological needs. Didn't you say something about the student's mental health being a top priority, when we were talking to the press?" He didn't try to keep the bite out of his tone. "I, also, found out how new Izuku Midoriya is to his… Or should I say 'All Might's' power. From what I understand, Bakugou figuring that out, was the spark that finally lit the whole blazing mess that was last night."

There were a few beats of silence, before Nezu said, "Come in. Take a seat. Have some tea."

Shota remained standing, knowing that the offering was a power play on the Principal's part. Usually, Shota appreciated his conversations with Nezu but now, he was too upset with the other to play his games.

"I'm not interested in tea right now."

Nezu glanced at him, probably judging whether or not to attempt to pressure him, but finally said, "suit yourself. I'm sure you won't mind if I pour one for myself." With that, he pulled out a tray with a tea pot and a cup.

He poured it slowly, undoubtably a show that he was still in control of the situation. "Now, I would appreciate it if you could tell me exactly what happened last night."

As Shota told Nezu about the discussions he'd had last night, the principal sipped his tea, but his eyes never left the teacher.

_**I hadn't really considered how Nezu being so respectful and friendly with Aizawa also might cause him to treat Aizawa in conversation. I still imagine that this is how he generally approaches others, playing power games of one form or another. He just likes Aizawa more so he doesn't play them out to this level.**_

* * *

_**This scene fell victim to the issue that I couldn't come up with a beginning for it and by the time did one, this wouldn't fit in as well.**_

"You seemed to handle the circumstances, well enough."

"That's because I'd been in the state of mind that I would be for a mission. The problems really hit me later: My student's mental states, the two-century war I'd stumbled into, the dangerous hobby Midoriya has," Shota stated. "Oh, and One for All has a mental aspect to it. All Might informed me that Izuku has seen the forms of previous users, and that he should expect to be subjected to the memories of previous users at some point."

Nezu set down his tea on its dish, with a slightly too loud 'clack.' Good, he should be taking this seriously.

"A mental Quirk."

"Possibly with sentience. Midoriya is, apparently, confident that the previous users helped him out when Shinsou hypnotized him. And if it is sentience, it's either from pieces of people's mind, or…"

"Or Izuku comes as a party of eight, since All Might is still here."

"Oh, he saw All Might with them. And isn't it funny how his eyes still glow and he can still take on his muscular form for a few moments at a time, despite One for All supposedly being gone?"

Nezu looked down at his tea, as if he wanted to be drinking something stronger at that moment. "We'll have to monitor that."

"Luckily, that hobby of Midoriya's I mentioned will help with that."

Nezu perked up. "I get the impression I'm going to like this hobby."

"I'll get to it," Shota replied.

"You can't just dangle information like that in front of me and then pull it away like that, Aizawa. It's cruel."

"You do it all the time." Aizawa retorted, "When you're not hiding information, altogether." He glared at the principal and asked, "why didn't you tell me something? Even some story about Midoriya being a late bloomer?!"

"Would you have agreed to let him stay in the Hero Course?"

"He might not be nearly crippled, today. The kid needed basic Quirk Training, not to be thrown directly into the single most Quirk intense field in existence! I promised my students that I would never put them in a situation they couldn't handle, and this makes me a liar through ignorance!"

"In all honesty, I was debating on whether to tell you, anyway. I know we can trust you with secrets, and it would probably benefit young Midoriya to have a homeroom teacher who understands his situation. But so many people already know about it and you already have so much responsibility on your shoulders." Nezu said, as he set his teacup back on the dish with a clink. "It might be selfish, but I'm glad the decision was made for me. I'll take it this means that you'll be training him between your sessions with young Shinsou."

"I have to. So far, most of the fights Midoriya's been in have resulted in injury… The majority, of which, were self-inflicted. He needs to be acclimated to his Quirk. Honestly, if this were a normal school year, I would ask he be held back from hero training and be reintroduced later, or to set up a tutoring program for him, if he needs to be held back longer. Maybe, have him observe his classmates at work this year and take notes, but I would consider it too hazardous to his health to participate."

"But these aren't normal times," Nezu stated. "The Symbol of Peace has exhausted himself and the League of Villains are attacking Class 1-A and, already, taking special interest in young Midoriya. The events linked to these problems have, also, destabilized the general public's view of heroes and crime is on the rise."

"We can't afford to wait for Midoriya to catch up. Doing that might even get him killed. He'll have to learn to control his power as he trains to use it, rather than before it would be proper for him." Aizawa frowned. "Essentially, I'll be throwing him in the deep end, without practice, and telling him to start swimming."

_**This is a gap I couldn't fill where Aizawa would have discussed his plans for Midoriya with Nezu.**_

"It's unfortunate," Nezu said. "Either way, I'd be happy to meet your request to be allowed to be the boy's case manager, if his mother will allow it. I'll, also, talk to Hound Dog for you. You're already taking so much responsibility by taking on a transfer from General Ed and now, a basics case during what's supposed to be your free time. I'll be cutting down on all your responsibilities outside of your class. Midoriya's training is critical."

"So are my students' emotional health… All of them. I have a deep respect for you, but if you keep leaving the first years hanging, I'll personally make your life hell. Midoriya and Bakugou are the canaries in the coal mine."

Nezu sighed. "I'll see to it. I did make a promise, after all."

"I'll probably have to bar some of Class 1-A from internships that put them directly in the field. Midoriya is first on the list."

Nezu cocked his head to the side. "Oh?"

"We're, already, going to demand a lot from him with this extra training, he doesn't have enough experience with his Quirk and I don't know if he's psychologically stable enough to be fighting, either." Shota recalled the conversations he had last night. Midoriya hadn't gone into detail about his childhood experiences but watching him, Aizawa had wondered how he'd missed the signs for PTSD. Along with what Shota could now only view as an unhealthy attachment to one of his former abusers. "An internship would be dangerous for both him, and those he would work with. He needs to be given time to focus on adjusting his body to his Quirk, and recovering from his trauma. Anyone who enters the field with Midoriya would be putting both him, and their team, at risk." The words stung because Midoriya was one of his best students, but the facts laid out last night could not be ignored. "Furthermore, the less that can be seen of his development, the easier it will be to hide the truth of his Quirk."

"Knowledge is power," Nezu stated in a cold tone that sent a shiver down Shota's spine. "You have control over your class, Aizawa. I trust your judgement. Just make sure he advances as quickly as possible. I'm afraid we're already short on time."

"What do you mean?"

"All for One is up to something."

"From inside Tartarus? Don't get me wrong, I'm not sure they'd be able hold him forever but they won't have to. They're eager to carry out his sentencing and I'm sure they'll cut through the red tape to make it happen. Until then, he's locked up too tight to do anything while he's there."

"The man's flown under the radar for roughly two hundred years and suddenly, everyone knows he's real and locked in a prison. Everyone is so comfortable, so sure about that. It's the only thing we're all confident of as everything else spirals into madness. Now, when he would have probably benefitted most from the chaos." Nezu added a little sugar to his tea and swirled a spoon in his tea as he continued, "I don't like it. It's all a little too convenient for me. I don't have enough information to know what his game is, but I'm almost certain he's done this on purpose. Or, at least, planned for a way to take advantage of the possibility that this would happen."

It was only, as Nezu paused to sip his tea again, that Shota realized that he was leaning forward, hanging off every word. Annoyed with himself for giving in to the principal's theatrics, he straightened in his seat.

There was a momentary gleam in Nezu's beady eye before he continued. "Meanwhile, the next person with the ability to stand against him gets hurt, if he uses any major amounts of his power. Another reason that now seems like now is too perfect a time for him to be locked away."

"His biggest threat in two hundred years, is at its most vulnerable," Shota stated.

Nezu nodded. "Thinking about it all, makes my fur stand on end." He took another sip and added, "But, I can't express my fears to Yagi. He visits All for One and if he expresses these suspicions, the villain will know that the retired hero isn't the original source of them. If I'm right, then I want him to stay overconfident, in the hope that he might slip up. The moment we give him reason to be cautious we lose any possible advantage." He cocked his head and twitched his ears as he jumped topics. "Now, you said that there was something else you needed to discuss."

"We may be able to give Midoriya an edge, even before he learns to control his Quirk, but we'll have to be much more careful with it than you've been with his inheritance of One for All."

Nezu cocked his head slightly to the side, ears swiveling forward and whiskers twitching in curiosity. "His 'hobby' is that major, is it?"

Shota opened the bag he'd brought in and handed Nezu a few sheets of paper: the work Midoriya did last night. The principal opened it up and his whiskers twitched as he looked at the contents. "He wrote this when I gave him five minutes and warned me that it wasn't as detailed as he'd like."

Nezu studied the papers before him. His fake smile disappeared and as his whiskers twitched, as his ears swiveled forward, occasionally flicking, a real show that he was actually enjoying something, rather than the imitation of the human smile that his muscles weren't meant to do.

After giving Nezu a couple minutes, Shota stated, "He has almost twenty notebooks worth of these and I'm collecting them, tonight."

Nezu looked up from the papers he'd laid out in front of him. "You can leave them here," Nezu said before sipping his tea.

"These notebooks demonstrate a level of analytical skills and situational awareness far beyond normal levels, but a lack of understanding for the impacts the application of that knowledge could have. All Might didn't exactly help by giving these a once over and ignoring them after."

"All Might knew about this, and didn't say anything?" Nezu asked, and Aizawa could actually hear the frustration in his voice, which was surprising, considering the other tried to keep his thoughts and emotions hidden most of the time.

Shota nodded. "I don't plan to let them to be slid under the rug any longer, though. I have a few plans in mind, but seeing as you also had experience, I wanted to ask you if there's any programs you'd recommend for improving the skills he's demonstrating?"

"Yes, but you won't be working this alone. As I've already said, you're doing too much as it is." Nezu smiled as he added, "Don't worry, we'll be coordinating young Midoriya's grooming for his talents." Despite his relatively neutral features, there was a gleam in his eye that unsettled Shota. "A pity All Might never mentioned this when he found the boy. I could've been training him for over a year, already. I would've happily tutored him, even as a middle school student."

_**Aizawa doesn't need to discuss his plans to bar students from training, since UA gives the teachers freedom to operate as they choose with their students. It was why he was able to skip the ceremony on the first day of classes.**_

_**I also feel like, with 200 years as top villain, All for One would've easily kept track of institutions like Tartarus and maybe even turned or raised people to infiltrate the building. I'd like to think that he actually liked throwing competition to the police so they would be locked up forever, if he thought that would be what would make them most miserable. Depending on how old it is, I could see him setting up things during its construction so that if he ever ended up in there, it would be even easier to escape.**_

_**I, also, like to think All for One is cocky and a bit of a showoff. He chose to use Quirks that were intended to stand up against All Might in a standoff of strength, All Might's strong point. If he had chosen other Quirks, he could have easily finished All Might without much of a fight. Maybe a Quirk that could affect his senses, like blinding him with a flash of light, or a Quirk with poisoning abilities. What about a mental Quirk that causes illusions or could affect the opponents mental state or consciousness? I've seen an author point out that simply going to Twice to set up clones of himself would probably do the trick (see chapter 118 of Quirks, Cameos Drabbles and Whatnots by Arty-Dee, it's a series of 100 word one shots and that chapter isn't linked to any overarching theme. If you like pieces like this, I'd recommend it, chapter 96 is actually based off of an idea I suggested if your interested in that). Yet he chose to take All Might head on.**_

* * *

_**This is another partial scene where Aizawa and Nezu consider Izuku.**_

"But these aren't normal times," Nezu stated. "The Symbol of Peace has exhausted himself."

"If you'd taken time to meet Midoriya, you'd know exactly why. Suffice to say, I think he'll be able to set up a system for himself."

Nezu's nose twitched and his ears swiveled forward in his curiosity. "It takes a deep level of self-awareness for people to watch themselves like that. Do you think Midoriya is that type of person?"

"Yes," he replied, without a moment of hesitation. "And watch the Quirk itself as he does." He pulled out the notes that Midoriya had written from his sleeping bag, "He, not only wanted to be a hero before All Might found him, but was actively pursuing it by training his mind." He placed the papers on the desk and Nezu placed a paw on the sheets and pulled them closer to study the material written on them. "And the way he chose to do so, is perfect for our problem. He learned to analyze people and situations, Quirk first. He'd been trying to teach himself how to outthink Quirked villains well before All Might found him. I found out during our talk and tested him." Shota was fairly sure he looked a touch smug as he added, "Of course, that's not the only application for his skills."

"All of this is self-taught?" Nezu double checked.

Aizawa nodded. "He currently has over a decade's worth of this sitting in his room. I wanted to ask for a safe to tuck them into this evening."

Nezu was already pulling out a roll out platform within his desk that had his laptop on it. As he opened the computer, he said, "Don't bother. I'll have it taken care of, before the final bell rings."

"I hope that you're not thinking of just barging into his room and taking his notebooks, without talking to him first."

"Of course not. If you could tell him to come to my office after the assembly…"

"He and Bakugou are under restricted to the dorms for the next three days."

"Oh. Well, you mentioned a hole in a wall between dorms, right? Perhaps, I'll go over and talk to the kids, while Cementos and the robots work on the repairs. I'm sure it won't surprise you to hear that I'll be setting up sessions with him." His whiskers twitched in excitement as he stated, "I notice Midnight commented that he seems to know most of what they cover in history class. I think I can reshuffle my own schedule to make room, during that time. I'll have to let him know. I'm assuming you've already decided to use his study hour already, seeing as you already have sessions with young Shinsou booked after school."

"Monday, Wednesday and Friday are training with me, Tuesdays for visits with Hound dog."

"We'll leave Thursday for him. We're about to be working that poor boy to find his limits, and break them. The boy is already grappling with his Quirk."

Shota looked Nezu dead in the eye, and stated, "I'm going to offer myself as Midoriya's Quirk Counselor. I sent a message to his mother, requesting a meeting with her and plan to discuss it then. All Might and Midoriya will be coming, I've encouraged the boy to tell his mother about One for All."

"What inspired this?"

"Midoriya is in a unique position. He was thrown into the Hero Course with an improper level of experience for it, but now I can't afford to pull him out or even slow down training for him. I think it's going to take a great deal of careful decision making, to help him properly. So far, most of the fights Midoriya's been in have resulted in injury… The majority of which were self-inflicted. He needs to be acclimated to his Quirk. Honestly, if this were a normal school year, I would ask he'd be held back from hero training and be reintroduced later or to set up a tutoring program for him if he needs to be held back longer. Maybe, have him observe his classmates at work this year and take notes, but I would consider it too hazardous to his health to participate. The League of Villains are attacking Class 1-A and already taking special interest in young Midoriya. The events linked to these problems have, also, destabilized the general public's view of heroes and crime is on the rise."

"We can't afford to wait for Midoriya to catch up. Doing that might even get him killed. He's a high priority target for the most dangerous villains Japan not only currently has, but that have ruled the shadows since the dawn of Quirks. I doubt that their head being locked in Tartarus changes that." He gritted his teeth and continued. "He'll have to learn to control his power as he trains to use it, rather than before as would be proper for him." Aizawa frowned. "Essentially, I'll be throwing him in the deep end without practice and telling him to start swimming. And I'm not about to let you be the one responsible for him. You treated Midoriya as a game piece rather than a person… No, that's not right, you saw his Quirk as one. You put him in my care. Now, I'm going to make it so that you have to go through me to even get authorization for anything related to his Quirk's use."

Nezu at least looked guilty, ears at half-mast lidded eyes and whiskers pointed just slightly back.

"Have you ever even talked to Midoriya, directly? Seeing as you know about One for All, I'd think you might want to get some feel for its latest user."

"No, I thought I got enough of an idea from Yagi's description of him."

Shota snorted.

* * *

**A major reason for me not trying to hard to put a lot of this in: I worry that too much time in conversation will drag the story. Although these conversations are an important aspect of my story, I also don't want to risk boring my readers. I also feel like I have either already discussed the topics of this conversation or that I'll have a lot of opportunities to bring up some of the points above in future chapters. I don't want to get overly repetitive with these conversations. That's actually one of the reason's I had Nezu mull over Izuku's notes between chapters, because I felt like a lot of what he and Aizawa would discuss would be a rehash of the points Aizawa brought up with All Might in their conversation about it.**


	8. Deleted Scenes Chapters 20-22

**Chapters 20-22 Deleted Scenes**

**I was actually juggling quite a few ideas I tossed around for writing these chapters and ended up cutting quite a few short scenes as a result.**

* * *

_**I originally tried to work on some scenes related to the assembly but decided that they were not really necessary with the way I had set the story up. I am trying to cut things lean enough that nothing drags too much. I never completely developed the scenes but I had some outlines ready.**_

Aizawa left Nezu's room. He couldn't say he was happy with the principal but the conversation was satisfying all things considered and Nezu had an assembly to prepare for.

**The class attended the speech and when Hound Dog launched into his rant, Aizawa moves to try to stop it, able to understand what he was saying and now worried that U.A.'s spy may have Midoriya as a priority. Unfortunately, they don't see his gestures from the stage, nor does he make it in time to stop Vlad from translating the growls and snarls for the kids.**

Shota felt mixture of negative emotions, as the assembly concluded in relation to the other staff members' comment on the fight last night. He was angry that Hound Dog and Blood King broadcasted about the fight to the whole student body like that.

But, that was secondary to the fear. How much did they know? Was it just a general report, or did they have footage of that fight? U.A.'s mole was still thriving and if it was a teacher, then footage would be dangerous.

**Aizawa tells Hound Dog that the next time he wants to scold students in front of the whole school, come to him first. He then explained that the fight had been the result of issues he was going to be sending the kids to Hound Dog to work out. Now the man just brought unwanted attention to those students, both of which have social issues that they're struggling with.**

**Hound Dog's mortification was enough to calm him into to speaking enough to bark out an apology. He takes the opportunity to tell the man that he plans to have each of his students come in for a required post villain attack session. With Midoriya, Bakugou and anyone Hound Dog felt needed further counseling, would be set up for continuing sessions.**

At this, Vlad frowned, thoughtfully, before stating, "You know what? Pencil my kids into that schedule, too."

_**Consider that last line minor foreshadowing for plans I have in the main story. I don't know how major but class 1-A is not the only one with kids who have PTSD issues. I can't help but immediately picture the unconscious kids in the woods, Awase having to carry Momo because she used her Quirk right up to death's door and Tetsu Tetsu getting shot multiple times, even if those things bounced.**_

* * *

_**Hizashi notices Aizawa's seating change.**_

After the assembly, Yamada noted that Nezu had immediately gone over to Hound Dog to discuss something with him.

He glanced toward the 1-A students, knowing like the rest of the staff, that the two students had been Shota's pupils. He was worried for the man. It had been a rough year for him and they're only now in September, not even halfway through the first year.

When Yamada arrived for 1-A's English lesson, he immediately noted two absent students and the relocation of another to one of the empty seats. He glanced at Shota, questioningly, but said nothing in front of the students. Yamada knew that if Shota made a change in the seating arrangement, there was good reason for it.

He could try asking his friend about it later, but knew his friend still might not talk about it.

* * *

_**So, remember that line in chapter 18 where Nezu was commenting about just showing up at the Dorm with Cementoss. Originally, that's exactly what I planned to have happen. He wasn't going to say a word to Aizawa. Just show up.**_

Izuku was cleaning the insides of the windows of the living room and Kacchan doing the same down the hallway when they noticed a couple of very recognizable forms up the path towards their dorm. Cementoss was walking their way with Principal Nezu perched on his shoulder talking in depth about something.

Izuku put down his spray bottle and rag and walked over to the door. Kacchan did, too. He was probably excited to get the hole in his room repaired.

The staff entered the building and Nezu gave one of his smiles that Izuku suspected was a forced thing, as most animals didn't really smile the way humans did. "Good morning, boys. How are your assigned chores coming along so far?"

"Fine," Bakugou said.

"How's Ground Beta?" Izuku asked.

"Everything is back in order and ready for the next training session," Cementoss replied. "The area was made with Quirk damage in mind. Still, that's not an invitation to use them at will."

"Sorry." Izuku said.

"So, why are you both here? I doubt this is just about the hole between my room and Kirishima's." Bakugou questioned, looking directly at Nezu.

Nezu smile dropped as he said, "Indeed. I want to speak to both of you individually in relation to last night's events. Most specifically some things you discussed with Aizawa during the conversations you had after the fight. He and I had a talk of our own this morning." Then, that smile was back. "There won't be any more discipline, I promise. I'm sure your Sensei has already taken care of that thoroughly." He looked between the two boys and said, "I think I'll start with, Bakugou. We can talk in one of the spare rooms upstairs. While Midoriya may go back to whatever he's working on and I'll talk after I'm finished with Bakugou. It won't take long."

Bakugou frowned but followed the principal to the elevator. The moment they were gone Cementoss stated, "he's here for more than a talk. If that were all he wanted, he would've had you come to the office."

"I'm sorry about making more work for you," Izuku said.

"Don't beat yourself up too much over it. Between the robots bringing supplies and my ability to set them in, we had all the damage repaired in about five minutes. Speaking of which, if I don't head up and let them in, they're going to get cranky." He paused expectantly with a small smile.

Izuku just looked up, unsure of what he was waiting for. Despite how much Izuku would love to ask about his collaborative construction work, he doubted this was the proper time to drill someone on their Quirk. He didn't know what the man was expecting, though.

"Were they built sentient, or did someone have a Quirk to make them that way?" Izuku asked, curious.

Cementoss paused, before stating, "I actually don't know. I haven't even thought about it, really." The man looked uncomfortable for a moment before he cleared his throat and said, "All right then, I guess I should get started. You should get back to your work, too."

"Yes, Cementoss-sensei." Izuku said and leapt to it.

He heard the man chuckle as he rushed back to the living room before pushing the elevator button and suddenly found himself wondering if Cementoss was actually lighter than he looked or if the equipment here had been reinforced for him.

'Probably not a good question to ask out loud.' Izuku noted as he picked up his spray bottle and rag in order to get back to cleaning.

**Nezu and Izuku later go back upstairs to talk in Izuku's room.**

_**This scene was partially written but has been removed so I can cannibalize it for the scene in the upcoming meeting for interactions between Nezu and Izuku.**_

_**I'm sure that the fact that I still use sensei here tells you that I was already working on it before chapter 14 came out…I've really got to go back and make those changes at some point**__…_

* * *

_**I wrote this while trying to figure out how to flesh out chapter 20 without making a pointless scene. I couldn't flesh it out enough to feel comfortable using it. Shoto considered both how little he knows about Midoriya and Aizawa's declaration about the meetings with the school counselor, specifically what it means for him**_**.**

Shoto barely payed attention as they went off to the assembly. Not even when Class 1-B's blond kid who was always strutting around and challenging their class started talking about something. Not even when they took up their position to wait for the assembly to start.

What he did pay attention to was when Hound Dog started howling on the stage. This was the man he was going to be required to meet with in the near future.

Shoto had never dealt with therapists, before. His father felt that they were for people who were too weak to deal with their own problems. And he'd made it clear that Shoto was far from weak.

Shoto wasn't sure what to expect there. Before the dorms, he might've actually been scared, because if anything got out about what he discussed and reached his father's ear... Well, he had to go home at the end of the day.

Now, he didn't know. Maybe he should just focus on the villain encounters… Was he even allowed to talk about Stain? Wolfram? Kamino Ward was most certainly out. No one could know about that.

* * *

_**So, I was originally going to have Aizawa running around getting stuff done for lunch. I had also originally planed on having the conversation with Inko happen at the end of this day, at her house but instead pushed it back in favor of Izuku meeting Nezu.**_

Despite wanting to do nothing more than curl up into his sleeping bag until it was time for the afternoon classes, Shota knew he had too much to do. With one last longing glance toward the teacher's lounge, he instead turned toward Nezu's office again to establish what the rest of the staff knew about the fight between Midoriya and Bakugou.

Then, he would proceed to Hound Dog's office to schedule appointments for Izuku and Bakugou specifically and warn Hound Dog to expect several more first years in the near future.

And it wasn't like he was getting a break in the evening either. Not only did he have Shinsou's training, but more work afterward. He and All Might had agreed that it was best to approach Midoriya's mother sooner, rather than later. He should probably stop by the dorm, after he spoke to Hound Dog, and tell the kid to make sure his mother would be home that evening…

What a pain…

_**Then I fiddled with the idea of Aizawa actually taking a nap. Yeah, that didn't last long.**_

* * *

_**Finally, I decided to have the conversation between him and Present Mic. This was the first draft and was going to be tacked onto chapter 21 before I came up with the final version but I found what I wrote when viewing things from Hizashi's perspective was much more satisfying.**_

The Voice Hero took the chair and angled it so he could face Shota, since they both knew very well that he wasn't coming out right now. "I heard that you had some trouble with a couple of your kids fighting last night and I noticed a change in seating this morning. You don't usually change seating arrangements unless it's something serious. I just wanted to check in and make sure you're all right."

"I can't say much," Aizawa stated. A set of words that said more between them than the average person might hear. As an Underground Hero with a Quirk like his, Shota had quickly become involved in assignments that had to remain secret. Therefore, he quickly set up a distinction with his friends between 'won't' and 'can't'. If it were just personal, he'd use the first; if there was something more, he'd use the latter. Outside of Yamada and Nemuri, most people wouldn't even know the distinction.

"That big, huh?"

"Yes. I can say that last night I was made aware of Midoriya and Bakugou's history. They should never have been placed together and I plan on minimizing their contact for the time being and prefer that they be heavily supervised when they do."

Yamada nodded. "I'll keep that in mind for group assignments in my classes." Then he smiled and asked, "So, how's young Shinsou's training coming?"

"He's getting a handle on my capture weapon faster than I did."

"To be fair, you had to learn it for yourself. He has a great mentor to guide him."

Aizawa shrugged, and said, "It would be illogical to have him waste time, struggling on his own. He needs whatever edge he can get, especially with all of his potential classmates getting pushed harder than any group before them. If he's to keep up next year, he'll have to climb higher than I did."

Yamada sighed, and acknowledged, "This year has been an absolute mess."

Aizawa said, "And another thing; based on what I can't talk about, it's only just started."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

He and Yamada just stared at each other for a minute in silence, before the blonde stood and said, "You look like you need your sleep, more than usual. Whatever's coming, know that I'll help however I can."

"I know. Thanks." Shota waited for Yamada to slip out of the room before sliding back into the bag, quickly dozing off again, until the echoes of his student's voices down the hall, as they later approached and then entered the classroom, roused him.

* * *

_**During Lunch, I was going to have Todoroki, Ochako and Iida questions that rocks them to the core in their thoughts about Midoriya.**_

Todoroki stared down at his Soba as he listens to Iida and Uraraka talking about homeroom and Aizawa's demand that they all attend therapy. But the conversation must've shifted, as he stewed in his own thoughts, because he snapped into awareness when Iida mentioned, "I'm surprised Aizawa-sensei switched Midoriya and Kirishima's seating."

"I'm not," Shoto said, causing the other two to look at him. "Did you see how Midoriya and Bakugou were, last night?"

"What are you talking about?" Uraraka asked. "That's the first time I've seen them get along so well."

Shoto snorted. "As long as Midoriya's walking on eggshells around Bakugou." He started stabbing his noodles with his fork as the words left his mouth, suddenly no longer hungry. No, he was angry. "How much do we really know about their 'friendship'?" This time, when he pulled his fork back, a bunch of noodles were pulled with it, frozen to the utensil, he realized and set his fork down.

The other two students stared silently at him for a moment.

"Maybe, it's just something they don't want to talk about." Iida's statement sounded more like a question.

"What does Midoriya talk about?" he asked back.

"Don't be ridiculous, Midoriya always talks with us!"

_**I decided that no matter how much Todoroki thinks about these things, it would be OOC for him to bring it up with the others under these circumstances, both because he is socially awkward and because he respects Izuku's privacy way too much. So, this scene got scrapped very early in its formation.**_

* * *

**And those are the deleted scenes for chapters 20-22.**


	9. Deleted Scenes Chapters 23-26

**Deleted Scenes: Chapters 23-25**

_**Originally, Izuku talked to Katsuki alone but I decided that Kirishima would not leave them alone after his talk with Bakugou. This is the original piece between Izuku and Bakugou**_

"Iida passed on a message that Aizawa Sensei wants me to meet him at Nezu's office at four. I need to pack up my…" He trailed off before saying, "He found out about my quirk analyses last night. I guess he discussed it with Nezu and they're going to…to lock up my notebooks because he thinks they're too dangerous."

"Well it's about fucking time someone took those things seriously," Katsuki declared as he went back to cleaning the counters.

"Kacchan!" Izuku replied, surprised.

"You think I don't know the shit you write out?" Katsuki asked, glancing over his shoulder at the nerd standing in the doorway. "I spent years with you trailing behind me, mumbling your creepy ass shit while you scribbled in those things."

Deku's face turned beet red at the comment.

"Just go prep for your trip to the school. I'll take it today but you're doing it both tomorrow and Wednesday."

Izuku nodded in acknowledgement and took off.

* * *

_**So, not only was the scene where Midoriya and Bakugou talk about taking out the trash changed but also the conversation among classmates afterward, which originally consisted of only Kirishima and Shoto and was short enough to go on the end of the chapter, rather than getting two of it's own. Actually, when I first finished it, I was sure it was the version I was going to go with. Then I rethought it after having my beta readers look it over and found that I'd changed my mind and wanted to bring more characters in.**_

Kirishima watched Izuku make a Beeline for the elevators down the hall from where he sat, unmoving, in his chair. He couldn't help but think about what Bakugou had said. About his relationship with Midoriya and about how the green haired boy didn't talk about himself.

He was startled when, after adding his bag to the slowly growing pile of trash, Todoroki plopped down, right next to him. "What did he say?"

Eijiro startled at the intensity with which the other boy asked his question. "About?"

"Bakugou and Midoriya?"

"You could probably ask Bakugou, you know."

"I don't think that's a good idea." The waves of cold fury in his words caught Kirishima off guard.

"Dude, what's up with you?"

"I…" Todoroki took a deep breath and collected himself before continuing, "…just realized something about them last night. That's all."

"That something's messed up?"

The other boy nodded. "You noticed, too."

"No, Bakugou spelled it out for me. I think he's beating himself up over whatever happened."

The bichromatic boy frowned, glancing toward the door of the kitchen.

"Todoroki? Does Midoriya ever talk to you about how he's feeling or his past or anything?"

Todoroki frowned. "Something else Bakugou said?"

"Just, when he said Midoriya didn't bring up their past, he kind of said that he does that for everything."

Todoroki was quiet again. Thoughtful, this time. "It crossed my mind last night, too."

"I'm worried for him. Maybe I should…"

"I don't think you're the right person to talk to him."

Kirishima looked over. "What's that mean? I'm his friend and I'm worried for him."

"He was worried for Bakugou and he wasn't the one to reach for him."

Eijiro felt his skin instinctively harden for an instant as he thought about Kamino, of Midoriya explaining his part in their plan. He hadn't questioned it then for the simple reason that there was no time. But, over time, it had nagged at the back of his mind more and more. With what Bakugou had just told him, it now made more sense.

He also knew that Todoroki was right. "Then who do you think should?"

For a moment, Todoroki looked thoughtful. "Did you know he keeps a med kit?"

"What…no. None of us did."

"You think? No one?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Which, now that he thought about it, kind of supported Bakugou's point about Midoriya keeping secrets about himself.

Todoroki looked out the window.

Eijiro followed his gaze and realized that Midoriya had come back down and slipped outside at some point. He had his backpack on his back and was heading down the path away from the dorm.

As they watched Midoriya turn and head off toward the school's entrance, Todoroki finally asked, "Is it still sharing secrets if you share something with another person, even if you don't say anything about why you have it?"

"I don't really understand…you knew he was self-treating, didn't you?"

Todoroki nodded his head once, more as if he came to a decision than in answer to Eijiro's question. "I think it might be me."

"What might be you?" Kirishima asked, confused.

"I think maybe I'm Midoriya's you."

"Huh?"

"Like how Bakugou would only come for you at Kamino when you reached for him…I think I might be Midoriya's you. We've…done a lot together. The only other person who's done about as much is Iida but it's different with him. He grew up safe. He wouldn't get it."

"What do you mean, 'he grew up safe?'"

Todoroki just shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He stood as if he were about to leave but stopped and asked, "How do I reach out to him to talk? I don't think holding out a hand and calling out like you did would work for this."

Damn. "I don't know," Eijiro admitted. Honestly, he hadn't even known Bakugou had grown close enough to respond to him until Midoriya pointed it out.

"I was hoping you might have some ideas. You're good at talking to people." He frowned and said, "I need to think about it then. I hope I can come up with something."

"You're probably going to end up winging most of it anyway," Eijiro warned. "Still, it's really manly that you're willing to try talking to him even though you know [your] you're not good at it. Good luck." He gave the other a big smile and a thumbs up. "You've got this."

"Got what?" Todoroki asked in confusion.

"It just means I know you can do it."

"Oh," Todoroki replied, understanding dawning. "Thanks, I'll do my best to get it then."

Eijiro wondered if he should explain…nah, no need to confuse the biochromatic boy further. Instead, he just said, "Plus ultra!"

Todoroki nodded and quietly repeated, "Plus ultra."

Once Eijiro was alone, he sank back into his own thoughts. Now, on top of the words Bakugou had said, Eijiro couldn't get Todoroki's comment about how Iida wouldn't understand because 'he grew up safe' out of his head. He worried a lot.

He got up, determined to find either Kaminari or Mina to help distract him from his thoughts.

* * *

_**This is a snippet removed from the last version of the conversation that I just couldn't get to fit anywhere. Rather than argue that they don't know how to look for signs of Midoriya hiding his feelings, he uses what they know about him as an example to make his point. I felt like this would be taking things too far with Todoroki drawing attention to himself.**_

Well, how much do you know about me?" Todoroki asked, which Eijiro noted brought up some uncomfortable looks from both Uraraka and Iida.

"We know you're a good person and a loyal friend," Uraraka said.

"And that you aren't afraid to do whatever it takes to help us if we need it."

"Yeah, but what do you know about me, pats my family ties, my quirk, my hand curse and love for cold Soba?"

"You don't have a hand curse," Iida declared, rubbing a spot on his arm.

"Hand curse?" Kaminari whispered confusedly to Mina and Eijiro and he had a feeling that she was just as lost as him, judging by the look on her face.

Todoroki looked down at his hands and said, "I don't talk about things like that much. Even talking about talking about it is hard. I think Midoriya is the same way, except by now, he would have changed the subject. But, considering he doesn't have a famous family, we don't even know that much about him."

* * *

**And these are the deleted scenes that I have for these chapters.**


	10. The Original Chapter 31 (and extra)

**This is the original chapter 31. It is going to be out of order from the usual deleted scenes but the reason for that is this was the original chapter 31 I put up. I feel the fact that it was an actual chapter gives it priority over the other material I have. There is actually more here than in the main chapter because I was working on Aizawa's thoughts for a future chapter that have now been rendered more or less useless.**

**Before posting it, I was kind of on the fence about whether it was a good idea to stick with this chapter or not. It was just as device among my readers as it was in my mind. So, I listened to what my readers said and came up with a new way to approach the situation that was in part based on the comments that were posted at the time. **

**Unfortunately, most of those comments were lost when I deleted the chapter from the main story (the ones on FanFiction remained intact, though).**

**Hopefully my readers enjoy the alternate version I post on the main story. Personally, I like the approach I came up with as a result over there better than this one, although it will take longer to play out. At the time I post this, said plans will not be out in their completion yet, though.**

**I also want to mention that there is a good chance that several passages from this will pop up within the main story that will be directly or indirectly from this. So, keep that in mind.**

**I am not sure when I will have the new version of chapter 31 ready but I am working on it.**

* * *

Punishment

Shota stared at the boy who was once again crying. This time, in obvious self-hatred and disgust.

Considering his tale, Shota wouldn't say that it was completely unjustified. He wasn't about to comfort Bakugou with false platitudes and tell the boy that he hadn't done anything wrong.

Besides, if Shota was honest, he didn't much feel like comforting Bakugou at the moment. As a result of the nature of his quirk he had hardly had an easy childhood, either. There were few things considered creepier than a quirk that could interact with other quirks and the kids around him had made sure he knew that. Still, it was nothing in comparison to what Midoriya had apparently gone through.

So, on an emotional level, he had no tolerance for the type of behavior Bakugou had admitted to.

But he had admitted to it and acknowledged that he knew it was messed up. Furthermore, he had also revealed that he had been encouraged by the people who should have been stopping him. For now, Shota would keep reins on his emotions. There would definitely be targets to release the full brunt of his fury on later.

In Shota's opinion, one of the best parts about being able to hold back his feelings when acting was the results of plans that he actually took an emotional interest in. Sure, he had to restrain himself and it took longer for a result than if he had just charged in but the ultimate payoff was often far greater than anything that could have been achieved if he had rushed forth in fury.

Hearing about the school these boys hailed from, the promise that this could be one of those times was one he could easily make to himself. It was the only comforts he could take from this.

The promise would make that particular waiting game easier.

With that in mind, Shota pointed out, "Don't think that you were the only guilty party. You played a major role, but group think and failure of your role models played a part, too. So, don't take the full credit all for yourself."

"You can't be saying you don't blame me."

"Oh, make no mistake, I am holding you responsible. You admitted to harming not only Midoriya, but several other children."

And he had already thought of the consequences he would lay down for Bakugou's actions. The idea he'd come up with had come to his mind with far too much ease for his liking.

"...So, what now?"

"You told me something, knowing I wouldn't like it. Now it's my turn. Your punishments."

Bakugou drew himself tall at that, his face emotionless, except for his eyes which glowed with a determination that was reminiscent of Midoriya, himself. He'd already accepted that he was going to face consequences for his action. He expected them. And despite Shota's anger, there was a touch of pride at how the boy was willing to take whatever punishment he was given.

"I have a short term one, and a long term one." It was the latter of the two that he was disgusted at himself for coming up with. But, looking at the boy before him, he also knew Bakugou would accept nothing short of a horrendous punishment in order to ever have a chance of redeeming himself and what he had in mind would more than cover it.

Shota wasn't sure that Bakugou would even accept praise on either his bravery or his willingness to accept the consequences of his actions from him after this.

Even if the worst of it would probably never happen.

Shota hoped it wouldn't, for many reasons but knowing Midoriya and hearing about his past, he had to accept that there was a possibility.

Many heroes, once properly introduced to the system in all its dysfunctional glory, became disillusioned. Most such people tended to accept it or burn out. Midoriya was the type of person who might act on his disappointment, though. He could easily see the boy expressing his opinion publicly once he'd gained some clout. But if the worst-case scenario ever came to pass and he felt that such actions weren't enough; if he decided more extreme actions were necessary…

Shota recalled the fight from the previous night, remembering the way Bakugou had known exactly how to counter Midoriya's fighting style.

Shota hated himself for even considering this… But he was getting ahead of himself. First thing, first.

"The school has technology capable of disabling chemical-based Quirks. Once the requested equipment is set up, you'll be wearing it until I say otherwise. I plan to allow you conditional use of your quirk during training. Other than that, when you're outside of your room, you should be wearing them." The only reason Shota allowed for this condition was constantly keeping his hands in the devices would be detrimental to Bakugou's health. "I'll be checking to make sure you are keeping them in working order and should you have a physical reaction to them, you're to inform me immediately. Are we clear?"

"Yes. And what about the other one?"

Aizawa fought to keep his features neutral as he said, "I'm lifting my threat of expulsion and trading it for a new responsibility that you will hold for the rest of your hero career."

"What?! You're lifting your threat? After everything I just said?" Bakugou was furious as he declared this, offended at the prospect of Shota seemingly letting him off easy.

Shota held up a hand, gesturing for silence before saying, "You will listen to what I have to say, Bakugou. Believe me, I'm not reducing your punishment. Not in the slightest."

The boy looked skeptical at the thought that Shota could come up with something as bad as getting kicked out of heroics.

Honestly, this was probably worse.

"What you've just told me was essentially an origin story for many a terrifying villain from the perspective of one of the people who gave them the biggest push toward it."

"Deku would never turn to villainy!"

"No. He'd never stop trying to rescue people who need help." Shota smiled grimly as he added, "The two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive in our society." He glared at Bakugou and said, "Midoriya has the potential to become one of the greatest heroes of our time. Maybe of all time. But, because of how Japan operates and the way he grew up, there will always be potential for him to turn into a villain by choosing to help people that the rest of our society has chosen to ignore. He's seen the darker side of it; you, his childhood friend turned bully, played a major role in showing it to him when you turned your back on him for being 'weak.' You, your old classmates, your old teachers; they all helped him see that. Are you telling me he wouldn't ever rush to help people who have been cast aside like he was?"

Bakugou looked down at the ground. "Well, yeah, he would but... Fuck!" That was all the answer needed to prove Deku could easily get the 'villain' label slapped on him. If he reached out to save the wrong people, his reputation as a hero would be ruined.

Knowing that wouldn't stop Midoriya, either. It wouldn't even slow him down. "He's already gone vigilante multiple times and danced the line to help save you in Kamino. The law is no issue for him."

"So, what does the possibility of Deku turning villain have to do with my punishment?" Bakugou asked bitterly.

As if the change in subject might lead to something more pleasant.

It wouldn't.

"From this moment, you will share the responsibility of keeping Midoriya stable within hero society. You will keep an eye on him. You will learn about and watch for any possible triggers and do your best to help him through them." As bad as it was to demand Bakugou manipulate and distract the other boy so that he didn't see the suffering of 'the wrong people,' Shota felt it paled in comparison to the final part of his order. "And if he turns, you will bear the greatest responsibility in our movements against him. Or, if you are not yet experienced enough to hold that position, you will be trained for it while contributing what you can to any efforts against him."

"And if he's convinced me he's right?"

Aizawa levelled his gaze at Bakugou and said, "We both know that you want to be a hero first and foremost to prove you're the best of the best. You may be developing more reasons to care about the people around you but I doubt you'll change enough to be willing to surrender your position in the ranks of this system. And now, as of this moment, you'll have an actual reason beyond that to hold your position."

Bakugou's held his hands at his sides. By tightly clenching his fists, he almost hid how they trembled. "If Midoriya were to go villain, he'd make Dusty look like a joke. Even without All Might's Quirk. Especially if he breaks through the rules he's set for himself. Deku knows the strengths and weaknesses of everyone around him and has plans for exploiting them."

"I know, I found out what he was writing in his journals last night."

"Is that what he's going to Nezu about?"

"Yes. We're locking them away and then applying some actual education to his talent."

"You're teaching him how to use his analysis skills better?" Bakugou asked, awe and terror leaking into his voice.

"It would be a waste to ignore his abilities, especially considering the type of role that he will be intended to take as All Might's successor." Even if that role would clearly need to be heavily altered in the post 'Symbol of Peace' world.

"He's going to be an absolute terror."

"And if he uses it against us, you'll be the person who knows him best. As a result, you'd also know how to counter him more effectively than anyone else. That fight you had last night proved that. I saw him winding up for the punch and you watching for it. If I hadn't stepped in, that fight would've probably been yours."

Bakugou glared at Aizawa in deep fury. Finally, he said, "You'd set up an enemy for Deku, even while you train him?"

"Yes. And now you're not just one of the people who helped set up this precarious situation. You're also the final back up plan if everything else goes wrong. If Midoriya stays in the system, you will be expected to keep pace as his competitor, just like you want. If he goes rogue though, you'll eventually be both the main fire power used against him and the primary predictor for the psychological factors of his movements in the team that we'd need to assemble in our attempts to outmaneuver him. I will personally make sure you are prepared for and placed in that position."

"What if he won't stop?"

A good question because it was a distinct possibility. No, probability. If Midoriya believed he was doing the right thing, he would never give up. Years of doing so, despite the consequences, had forged him in a way where he might not even understand the concept of giving up, let alone act on it.

"I expect that if it reaches a point where it's necessary, both you and I will have to do whatever we must to stop him." Shota didn't like saying it. He hated it. Hated how logical this step absolutely was.

"How can you stand there and scheme against him like this?!" Bakugou growled.

"Because I've spent most of my life placing logic before emotions. For those of us without flashy Quirks, it's the best chance we have of saving the most lives and surviving ourselves. No matter how much it hurts." Shota barely fought down his self-disgust as he said, "It probably won't make you feel better to know this but every one of us who have the potential of reaching a certain threat level have plans in place against us, even if we don't know what they are. I don't know what plans Nezu has for me but I can guarantee that they're there. There are also ones in place for him." Although, Shota had a distinct feeling that Nezu had probably predicted what they were and already come up with countermeasures just for some 'fun' thought exercise.

"How can you all just agree to stand there smiling at each other while pulling this scheming backstabber bullshit?!"

"Because we know if we restrict ourselves from tugging on the strings, someone else will do the pulling and we'll just be the puppets suspended from them. This is what it's like to hold real power in the hero system, even without aiming for the top. You don't need to be part of it to reach the high ranks for the public, but if you want to be calling any shots behind the scenes, this is how you have to think."

Tears ran down Bakugou's face and dripped from his jaw as he declared, "Then, Deku will do amazingly and despise it."

Shota nodded, expressing his agreement before stating, "And you will be one of the primary people he'll have to thank for learning the skills that will allow him to do it so well."

"I fucking hate it! It's not fair!"

At this, Aizawa gave the boy a smile that was full of teeth and empty of joy as he retorted, "Welcome to your first experience of what Midoriya learned before he reached his fifth birthday. Life hasn't ever been, isn't and never will be, 'fair.' You wanted to have a chance to claw to the top so badly? Congratulations. I've opened the door for the opportunity and am shoving you through."

"This is bullshit! I'll never forgive you for this!" But he wasn't refusing, either.

"I wouldn't accept your forgiveness, even if you did offer it, Bakugou," Aizawa replied tiredly. He didn't see what he was doing as forgivable in the slightest. "If it makes it more…palatable, keep in mind that if it wasn't you, it would've been someone else who doesn't know Midoriya as well nor care about him as much. Now that you know, would you really prefer that? Someone who would just be able to just look at him as a traitor and a villain so they could do 'what must be done' without a second thought?"

Bakugou's eyes widened at that, once again on the verge of tears. "Don't you fucking dare!"

"As long as you're there, I won't need to," Aizawa assured. After all, it was clear that there was no one who would better fit the role. Bakugou would care about Midoriya as well as the rest of the public.

Maybe it wasn't logically sound to set up that dynamic. Perhaps placing someone who was more distant in control of such operations and place Bakugou in a position where he mainly explained Midoriya's probable reasoning and took orders in the field would be the 'smarter' approach. But he'd be damned if he'd completely throw Midoriya to the wolves who would have pushed him into the position that would force them to fight him.

Bakugou would stand against Midoriya if he had to but he would also never be able to dehumanize him.

Shota would do his job as a hero and protect society from any threat but he would also do whatever he could for his students in the process.

So, as promised, Shota would do everything to make sure Bakugou was the one in control if this ever came to pass.

"It probably doesn't need to be said, but as far as the rest of the world is concerned, the last part of this conversation never happened. I will be discussing it with Nezu. Otherwise, unless the worst-case scenario comes to pass or we need to discuss it, such as pointing out work you might need to do to prepare, we won't say anything. And even then, never in the company of others. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Mr. Aizawa," Bakugou replied bitterly, clearly disgusted but both accepting the punishment doled out to him and agreeing to hold his silence.

The man's gaze softened as he added, "Good. Hopefully, we'll be able to pretend to forget we ever discussed this. You may go now."

"I won't ever be able to act like this never happened."

And with that Bakugou ran off, not so much as glancing back.

* * *

**This was painful to write. When I first started in on Bakugou's talk, I had no idea it would end up taking this turn but it did and I couldn't bring myself to scrap it so, here it is.** **Originally, I actually debated on scrapping this chater but I think I will use it to bring up a new set of issues that exist in the MHA world.**

**Although he isn't getting expelled, I think this is a punishment that could fit Bakugou's crime, to be the person they use for this plan for it everything goes wrong. I hate doing this to Izuku but it seems like something that would realistically happen when building up someone like him to be so powerful (Izuku trained in both mind and body could be a real force to reckon with).**

**This chapter has dark implications to it. Know that nothing is set in stone with my story but there is the possibility of this conversation coming into play if the series makes it that far. Then again, it might not at all. I plan on Izuku having deep interactions with a wide variety of characters in the future where his views might get challenged, though. So it's possible that I might eventually write him turning on hero society as it is (although it would not be without a reason very reminiscent of him that I would build up to it in a way that makes sense for his character).**

**After reading some comments, I was inspired to write, among other things, another section of this chapter where Aizawa reflects on what he learned from Bakugou's conversation but I felt it would both rob from the impact of what is already here. Speaking of which, there's a chance that it could be a little time before the next set of chapters are ready to go. I've been taking to completing these in chunks and making minor changes down the line before posting based off of ideas I get. Much of that inspiration comes from my conversations with my readers, so thank you for your help with this story.**

* * *

**Up to this point is the chapter as it was when I removed it. The following is the partially developed post conversation thoughts for Aizawa after Bakugou leaves. Only readers who come here will get to see it. Its in various stages of development, with parts of it mostly complete and parts of it in very early development stages where I just jot down what I should cover. There are probably also several errors, too.**

Shota stood there silently, giving Bakugou some distance before he started his way back toward the main grounds and the school, itself.

Shota couldn't blame Bakugou for being upset. He hadn't gone easy on the kid, but he couldn't afford to.

**What Aizawa did**

**Demand Bakugou watch Midoriya and be ready to face him if he goes villain**

**Why**

**Midoriya's capacity to choose what right leading him to choose to help wrong people, turning back on society**

**Bakugous capacity to predict him**

**Bakugou's care for Midoriya (protect him from other heroes if he is generally doing good but be there to step in if Midoriya pushed to breaking point)**

**Bakugou atonement for being childhood bully**

**What that entails**

**Training Bakugou**

**Building connections for Bakugou**

**A parallel training system to cover/exploit Midoriya's weaknesses**

**Training him to distinguish legal, right and wrong, rather than let others dictate for him**

**Expected consesquences:**

**Bakugou will probably never forgive Aizawa**

**Bakugou and Midoriya will never be able to have a complete relationship**

**Potential for Midoriya to also feel betrayed**

Shota massaged his temples, fighting his own inner turmoil. He'd placed Bakugou in a position where he would want to support Midoriya but their relationship would be forever poisoned. It would always be in the back of his mind that he would be set up to betray Midoriya if his dreams took him outside the admittedly malformed scope of heroics. He had ruined the possibility of their bonds ever completely healing and destroyed Bakugou's view of the hero system and of Shota himself, for the sake of protecting Japan.

It wasn't the first time he'd done something despicable to save lives.

But he felt no less like garbage for it.

Shota instantly knew that All Might would be kept out of the loop for this. He didn't even want to think of how the man would react to this if he ever found out.

If Shota were the retired hero, he'd call his first sidekick, arrange a private charter to I-Island and throw Midoriya aboard in order to get him the hell out of the country in. To separate the boy from all the monsters scheming against him from all sides.

If that happened and Shota was assigned to stop them, he wasn't one hundred percent sure that he wouldn't purposely fail.

But rather than focus on things that might never come to pass, he needed to focus on what he now knew now and what he could do about it. What he had just discussed with Bakugou was a worst case scenario. Shota would do everything he could to prevent that from happening, for both boys' sakes.

So, the single largest fact he could be sure of was that, both Midoriya and Bakugou had been messed up by the system.

**Bakugou:**

**Superiority & Inferiority Complex**

**Might is right**

**Violent behavior encouraged**

Bakugou had been encouraged to flaunt his abilities and trample anyone else who stood in the way of his 'superiority.'

**Midoriya**

**Self confidence**

**Pain Tolerence**

**Trust Issues**

**Relationships**

And Midoriya had been messed up even worse. He had been seen his best friend become a bully, had to watch his back not only against classmates but his teachers and had been considered worthless by all of them. Yet, he'd still been determined to help people whenever he could, despite the often-painful consequences.

This was probably the source of many of Midoriya's self-confidence issues which he was constantly fighting.

It was also the source of his determination to push forward, no matter the cost. What had started out as an admirable trait to push through all of the abuse had become an all consuming monstrous thing that pushed him beyond logic and safety.

Shota remembered Bakugou's description of how even his self-injurious behavior was, one part born of his suffering and one as a way he was taking back that self control. An approach that Shota himself had pushed the boy toward.

He felt his stomach sink further as he again recalled the way Midoriya had smiled after tossing that ball. It was well and truly a challenge to call him hopeless again. And as horrible as the self harm was, it wasn't that which caused fear to spike through Shota

And he also found himself thinking of all the times Midoriya had disobeyed orders and charged into fights he should have taken no part in.

Now Shota knew about the teachers at his previous school, his refusal to pay heed to authority of any kind made a disturbing level of sense. After all, neither rules nor law had ever protected him from the bashing that his pervious teachers encouraged.

Midoriya had been taught that trusting authority figures would get him hurt. Looking back now, he realized that the only reason Midoriya followed directions is that he could see the logic in their orders, not because he felt any great urgency to do as he was told. Directions, rules or laws; Midoriya only followed any of them at his own at his own discretion.

Midoriya wasn't actually 'obeying' anyone. He didn't trust anyone enough to. Except possibly All Might, who wouldn't know enough to recognize he even had that power, let alone know how to apply it.

It hit Shota as hard as the USJ Nomu's fist. Midoriya had long learned to prioritize what he thought was best over all other commands. He was a loose canon that just happened to be pointed in the right direction to fool everyone into thinking otherwise.

And trust was one of the biggest anchors that had been cut to make him that way.

Shota also recalled how Midoriya reacted to his words of not having to pretend to be okay being what had finally caused the boy to break down the night before. How many people had told him something like that? How many people did he actually trust enough that he was willing to break down like that for them?

Shota also thought about his actions both as a teacher and as a hero in Midoriya's presence and realized that, despite all the logical ruses he through at his class and the scolding and threats he'd thrown Midoriya's way, he was probably one of the people Midoriya trusted most.

The realization didn't bring Shota any comfort. He wasn't exactly the best person for anyone to put their faith in. He had in fact spent years cultivating distrust in his kids, keeping them on their toes because they never knew what was coming.

And in Midoriya's case, he'd already betrayed that trust. He had just plotted to move against the kid if need be, setting up his childhood friend turned bully turned rival as a possible future enemy.

But he also wanted to see Midoriya succeed. Not just that but to still live safe and happy, too. In heroics, that was a hard thing to balance. Maybe even impossible.

But, despite everything he put them through, he wanted it all for these kids. He also knew that Bakugou and Midoriya were probably the least likely to achieve that. And although he'd most likely just sacrificed his ability to ever directly provide that support to Bakugou, he could still play a role for Midoriya.

At least long enough for the boy to learn to open up to others, so that if he did find out about Shota's other plans, there would be others there he would be willing to let help him.

That something would probably not be helped by sending Midoriya to face Nezu alone.

**Midoriya & Nezu**

**Concerns**

**Similarities**

**differences**

**Aldera**

**Bring it up with Nezu**

**Get someone to investigate/investigate himself**

* * *

**My original plans for chapter 31 would have included this part but I had decided that the ending would detract from the impact of the main chapter and that the scene would also be a good mood setter for the chapter where Aizawa would walk into the meeting with Midoriya and Nezu.**


End file.
